4 Iranian MPs banned from running for parliament

TEHRAN, Feb. 13 (MNA) - In addition to deputy parliament speaker Shahabodin Sadr, three other sitting MPs have also been found unqualified by the Guardian Council to run for the parliamentary elections, an informed source said on Sunday. The MPs are: Mohammad Ebrahim Nekounam (representative of Golpayegan), Haji Mohammad Movahed (representative of Behbahan) and Fatem-e Ajorlou (representative of Karaj). The decision by the Guardian Council to disqualify Shahabodin Sadr, who also sits on the Majlis Health Committee, came as surprise on Sunday. Even before it was reported that Sadr has failed to win the approval of the Guardian Council, the United Front of Principlists had not included him in its 30-member candidate list in Tehran. Sadr, along with a number of principlist candidates who had not been included in the UFP list, established the Insight and Islamic Awakening Front. Sadr was appointed the secretary general of the front.