Iran MPs protest despite Prez plea

Iranian reformist MPs on Wednesday rebuffed an appeal from President Mohammad Khatami to suspend a sit-in protest against a bid to bar hundr...

Iranian reformist MPs on Wednesday rebuffed an appeal from President Mohammad Khatami to suspend a sit-in protest against a bid to bar hundreds of reformist candidates from standing for Parliament. Khatami, apparently confident he could defuse a crisis that has sparked resignation threats by most of his Cabinet, urged dozens of Members of Parliament who have been sleeping on Parliament floors since Sunday to return to work.

But the lawmakers, most of whom are among those barred from the February 20 election by the unelected Guardian Council, rejected Khatami’s conciliatory approach. ‘‘It’s natural for us to continue because we haven’t achieved our demands yet,’’ said Mohammad Reza Khatami, younger brother of the President and Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

The decision to extend the protest was a further blow to Khatami’s weakened authority, who is also under pressure from Cabinet colleagues and state governors to adopt a firmer stance — and to resign with them, if the bans are not rescinded. Khatami told MPs he was hopeful a deal could be negotiated with the Guardian Council, which has disqualified almost half of the 8,200 aspiring candidates from the race.

Most of Khatami’s Cabinet, including four Vice Presidents and 12 ministers, have said they will quit within a week unless the bans are overturned. State governors have said the same. Pro-reform Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi said if talks with the Council failed, the reformists would appeal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters of state. —(Reuters)