TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian hardline watchdog body has banned a grandson of the country's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from running for parliament next month, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The March 14 vote for parliament, now dominated byPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's backers, will test thepopularity of the hardline president who came to power vowingto share out oil wealth more fairly but failed to curbinflation.
Hopefuls have to go through a vetting process by governmentexecutive committees and the conservative-controlled GuardianCouncil, which has stopped hundreds of reformist candidates inthe past.
Among many hopefuls barred from running in the election isAli Eshraghi, a 39-year-old civil engineer who is also agrandson of Khomeini, founder of Iran's 1979 Islamicrevolution.
Eshraghi told the Kargozaran newspaper he had not been toldwhy he was rejected. "My neighbours told me they werequestioned about my private life, including ... whether Ishaved, whether I pray or fast or smoke," Eshraghi said.
Reformists were defeated in the 2004 parliamentary vote,when another grandchild of Khomeini, Zahra Eshraghi, wasbarred. That election helped pave the way for Ahmadinejad'spresidential win in the 2005 race.
Pro-reform politicians say many of their number, including30 lawmakers and three former ministers, have already beenbanned from running this time around. The final list ofapproved candidates will be announced on March 5.
The hardline-run council can reinstate hopefuls or barothers based on criteria such as loyalty to the Islamic system.
Reformists and other moderate politicians opposed toAhmadinejad are confident the election will deliver a change in290-seat parliament, partly because of what they say is growingpopular frustration with Ahmadinejad's economic policies.
Eshraghi said he had the blessing of the country's mostpowerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to run."I informed the leader over my decision to run before theregistration," he said.
(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian, Editing by Dominic Evans)
