Tehran’s Friday Prayers: In defense of the Guardian Council

(Head of Policy Council for Friday Prayers' Leaders Hojjatoleslam Taghavi speaks to the congregation. Source: Vahid Naderi/Fars)

The uproar following the dismissal of the absolute majority of Reformists (99% according to some key figures of the camp) raised strong reaction from sermonizers of Friday prayers across the country, most of who come from the Principlist camp.

In Tehran, pre-sermon speaker, Hojjatoleslam Taghavi who also chairs the Policy Council for Friday Prayers' Leaders, asserted that that principle of ‘presumption of innocence’ is naïve when it comes to choosing decision-makers and officials, and one’s choice should be based on skepticism.

Ahmad Khatami, this week’s imam in Tehran’s Friday prayers also slammed objections by the disqualified candidates and the government including the president and a number of governors. “If an executive says that I will not yield to the Guardian Council’s disqualification, and asks his subsidiaries to do the same, this is called fraud,” he said. “Officials are repeatedly speaking of rule of the law, but some gatherings turned into anti-Guardian Council meetings.” The conservative sermonizer of Mashhad Friday prayers, Ayatollah Alamolhoda, also expressed concern about criticisms against the Guardian Council. “Undermining and insulting the jurisprudents of the Guardian Council is a threat to the country and to Islam” Alamolhoda said, addressing the critics of the council. “The Guardian Council is the most sacred institution that can determine the eligibility of the candidates.”

In Qom, heart of Iran’s Shia seminaries, Friday prayers’ imam Ayatollah A’rafi called for abidance by the law. “The Guardian Council’s supervision is legal and we should acknowledge that,” he said. “Respecting the dignity of the Guardian Council is everyone’s duty.” In the northern city of Rasht, the Friday prayers’ leader Hojjatoleslam Abdullahzadeh justified the dismissal of nominees, stating that “those who are not loyal to the Islamic establishment cannot enter key decision-making centers.”