Iran delays local elections

Iran Focus: Tehran, Jul. 13 – Iran’s hard-line constitutional watchdog has approved a bill in the Majlis, or Parliament, for local council elections to be held more than two years later than originally planned, state television reported.

Iran Focus

Tehran, Jul. 13 – Iran’s hard-line constitutional watchdog has approved a bill in the Majlis, or Parliament, for local council elections to be held more than two years later than originally planned, state television reported.

The Guardian Council (GC) on Monday approved the bill to hold the municipal elections, originally scheduled for later this year, simultaneously with the Presidential election in 2013.

GC spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said the bill did not violate Islamic law or the Constitution.

Kadkhodaei said a separate bill was being examined by the Council to hold Parliamentary elections and the election of the Assembly of Experts at the same time.

The 2009 Presidential election, which brought hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power for a second term, was widely denounced by the international community after allegations were made of major vote rigging.