WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

http://www.trust.org/item/20130517122409-pnbw5/

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201351754634102939.html

IRAN - CONSTITUTION DOES NOT ALLOW WOMEN TO RUN FOR/BE PRESIDENT

Women fill up their ballot papers during a parliamentary election at a mosque in southern Tehran in March 2012. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

By Maria Caspani - 17 May 2013

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Women in Iran cannot run for president, a member of the country’s constitutional watchdog has said, according to Al Jazeera.

Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a member of Iran’s Guardian Council, said that the “law does not approve” of a female president or of women running for the presidency, Mehr news agency reported.

Some 30 women are seeking to run in the upcoming elections in June.

Even before Yadzi’s comment, it was considered nearly impossible for a woman to be chosen as presidential candidate.

More than 600 people have registered to replace President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose third and final term is nearing an end.

Iranian women are allowed to run for parliament and have served as lawmakers, but the wording of the constitution is regarded as a barrier to their presidential aspirations.