RNA – In an interview with Rasa News Agency, Molavi Nazir Ahmad Salami, the representative of the people of Sistan and Balouchestan province in the Assembly of Experts, referred to the philosophy of the existence of the Guardian Council and said, “The main task of the Guardian Council is to protect the Islamic law and the constitution by monitoring the laws and regulations.”
The Iranian Sunni cleric continued, “The Guardian Council is a revolutionary institution that is valuable and safeguards the values of the Islamic Revolution and throughout the past several decades of the life of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic system, it has been the source of many services.”
Molavi Salami said that the main purpose of the attacks against the Guardian Council are to destroy the Islamic system and added, “Those who criticize the Guardian Council are those who do not want an Islamic system based on moral and spiritual values. Therefore, they seek to destroy this institution and system.”
The representative of Iran’s Sunni Muslim community in the Assembly of Experts emphasized that many people can not distinguish a righteous individual from a corrupt individual, adding, “For this reason, the eligibility of candidates throughout the country are approved by the Guardian Council and individuals must cross the line in the name of the Guardian Council until ultimately, the people who deserve to administer the Islamic system are chosen.”
Referring to the personality of Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, Molavi Salami said, “He is a devout person, committed to the Islamic system and a believer in Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurisprudent).”
The Guardian Council of the Constitution is an appointed and constitutionally mandated twelve-member council, composed of six faqihs (Islamic jurisprudents) and six jurists, that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It is charged with interpreting the Constitution of Iran, supervising elections of, and approving of candidates to, the Assembly of Experts, the President and the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) and “ensuring ... the compatibility of the legislation passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly... with the criteria of Islam and the Constitution.”
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