Iranian president slams new election criteria

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran, Iran, April 5, 2020. (Reuters)
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Updated 11 May 2021
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Iranian president slams new election criteria

  • Rouhani: Age restrictions ‘too narrow’
  • Critics say comments are charade to conjure mirage of democracy

LONDON: Iran’s outgoing President Hassan Rouhani has slammed the country’s electoral criteria as “too narrow” ahead of June elections.

But dissidents and critics say his comments are a charade designed to give legitimacy to an autocratic regime and conjure a mirage of democracy in the country.

Rouhani, who is set to relinquish his position before the election, said Iran’s 12-member Guardian Council had “no legal authority” to impose new criteria excluding candidates aged younger than 40 and older than 75. 

He urged the Interior Ministry, which oversees electoral registrations, to bypass the council’s new age controls.

Their most noticeable effect will be the prevention of Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, minister of communications and information technology, from standing for president. 

Critics have long said the Guardian Council has the power to block candidates based on other criteria, including simple disapproval by the country’s religious leadership.

Council member Siamak Raphik defended the age criteria, saying the body is “the sole custodian of the eligibility of candidates.” 

Iran’s list of approved electoral candidates will be revealed on May 26 following an appeal period.

Before the last presidential election in 2017, 1,636 people registered to run, a massive increase compared with 686 in 2013. But after inspection by the Guardian Council, just six candidates were allowed to stand. 

And despite many women putting their names forward during elections, not a single one has ever been allowed to stand in Iran’s history.

This year’s election will take place amid widespread public disillusionment, a fourth wave of coronavirus and middle-class animosity, meaning low voter turnout is highly likely. The turnout in last year’s parliamentary election dropped to a record low of 42 percent.

Currently, more than 30 political figures have declared a campaign to run for president, including key members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

Several major politicians have yet to announce their intentions, as they test support and seek final intelligence on whether they have sufficient approval. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said he wants the eventual president to be “young and pious.”


Egyptian, Turkish FMs discuss Gaza ceasefire, mass graves in Libya

Updated 3 sec ago
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Egyptian, Turkish FMs discuss Gaza ceasefire, mass graves in Libya

  • Ministers warn of a ‘humanitarian disaster’ in war-ravaged Palestinian enclave
  • They also discussed the discovery of dozens of bodies in mass graves in the Libyan capital, Tripoli

LONDON: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed developments in Gaza and Libya with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.

The ministers, during a phone call on Sunday, highlighted the urgency of a ceasefire in Gaza and described the situation there as a “humanitarian disaster” amid Israeli attacks and military actions in the area.

They discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire, secure the release of Israeli hostages and ensure the delivery of humanitarian, medical and shelter aid to the enclave.

Abdelatty and Fidan discussed recent developments in Libya, including the discovery of dozens of bodies in mass graves in the capital, Tripoli.

The Egyptian minister highlighted Cairo’s support for Libya’s unity and integrity, ensuring that Libyans can hold presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously, without interference, as soon as possible, Kuwait News Agency reported.

Abdelatty said that Cairo and Ankara continue to cooperate in the economic, investment and trade sectors, and exchange views on urgent regional matters.


Israel vows to prevent an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching Gaza

Updated 08 June 2025
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Israel vows to prevent an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching Gaza

  • The vessel departed Sicily last Sunday on a mission that aims to break the sea blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid, while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave

Israel’s defense minister has vowed to prevent an aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from reaching the Gaza Strip.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that Israel wouldn’t allow anyone to break its naval blockade of the Palestinian territory, which he said was aimed at preventing Hamas from importing arms.
Thunberg, a climate campaigner is among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The vessel departed Sicily last Sunday on a mission that aims to break the sea blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid, while raising awareness over the growing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
The activists had said they planned to reach Gaza’s territorial waters as early as Sunday.
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, is among the others onboard. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
After a three-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers have warned of famine unless the blockade and the war end.
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group’s vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.


Gaza rescuers say 10 killed in Israeli attacks

Updated 08 June 2025
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Gaza rescuers say 10 killed in Israeli attacks

  • The civilians had been heading to an aid distribution center west of Rafah, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
  • The United Nations refuses to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli attacks on Sunday killed at least 10 people including two girls in the Palestinian territory, as the Israel-Hamas war entered its 21st month.

“Five martyrs and dozens of wounded were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis after the (Israeli) occupation forces opened fire on civilians at around 6:00 am,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

The civilians had been heading to an aid distribution center west of Rafah, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group that has come under criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies.

The United Nations refuses to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.

Asked to comment on the latest killings, the Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.

It said the area around the distribution point had been declared an “active combat zone” at night.

“Around 4:30 am, people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” eyewitness Abdallah Nour Al-Din said.

Outside the Nasser hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body-bags.

“I can’t see you like this,” said Lin Al-Daghma by her father’s body, while a man lay over his brother’s corpse.

They gave the same account as Din, and spoke of the struggle to access food aid after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade of Gaza, despite a recent easing.

Dozens of people have been killed near distribution points since late May, according to the civil defense.

Bassal said another five people, including two young girls, were killed around at 1:00 a.m. in a strike that hit a tent in the Al-Mawasi displaced persons camp in southern Gaza.


Israeli military hits Hamas member in southern Syria

Updated 08 June 2025
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Israeli military hits Hamas member in southern Syria

  • Israel and Syria have recently engaged in direct talks to calm tensions

CAIRO: The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.

Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.

Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles toward Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa accountable.

Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.

A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.

Israel and Syria have recently engaged in direct talks to calm tensions, marking a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decade.


Why were so many Thai farmers among the hostages held by Hamas?

Updated 08 June 2025
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Why were so many Thai farmers among the hostages held by Hamas?

  • Before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, Israel had 30,000 Thai laborers, primarily working on farms
  • 31 Thais were taken hostages. Thailand’s foreign ministry has said 46 Thais have been killed during the war

BANGKOK: Israel says it has retrieved the body of a 35-year-old Thai hostage who was abducted into Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.

Nattapong Pinta was among 31 Thais taken by the Hamas militant group. Thailand’s foreign ministry in a statement Saturday confirmed that Pinta, the last Thai hostage in Gaza, was confirmed dead. It said the bodies of two others have yet to be retrieved.

The ministry has said 46 Thais have been killed during the war. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas. They were among tens of thousands of Thai workers in Israel. Here’s a look at what they were doing.

Why are there so many Thais in Israel?

Israel once relied heavily on Palestinian workers, but it started bringing in large numbers of migrant workers after the 1987-93 Palestinian revolt, known as the first Intifada.

Most came from Thailand, and Thais remain the largest group of foreign agricultural laborers in Israel today, earning considerably more than they can at home.

Thailand and Israel implemented a bilateral agreement a decade ago to ease the way for workers in the agriculture sector.

Israel has come under criticism for the conditions under which the Thai farm laborers work. A Human Rights Watch report in 2015 said they often were housed in makeshift and inadequate accommodation and “were paid salaries significantly below the legal minimum wage, forced to work long hours in excess of the legal maximum, subjected to unsafe working conditions and denied their right to change employers.”

A watchdog group found more recently that most were still paid below the legal minimum wage.

How many Thai nationals work in Israel?

There were about 30,000 Thai workers, primarily working on farms, in Israel prior to the attack by Hamas.

In the wake of the attack, some 7,000 returned home, primarily on government evacuation flights, but higher wages than those available at home have continued to attract new arrivals.

The Thai ambassador to Israel, Pannabha Chandraramya, recently said there are now more than 38,000 Thai workers in the country.

What happened after some left?

Faced with a labor shortage in the wake of the exodus, Israel’s Agriculture Ministry announced incentives to try to attract foreign workers back to evacuated areas.

Among other things, it offered to extend work visas and to pay bonuses of about $500 a month.

Thailand’s Labor Ministry granted 3,966 Thai workers permission to work in Israel in 2024, keeping Israel in the top four destinations for Thais working abroad last year.

Thai migrant workers generally come from poorer regions of the country, especially the northeast, and even before the bonuses, the jobs in Israel paid many times what they could make at home.