https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">Will women be allowed to run in #Iran& #39;s presidential election next year?

Recently, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council--which vets candidates--said there are no legal barriers to women becoming president & Iran could have women presidents in the future.

2. Women have tried to run for president in #Iran before, but have never been approved by the Guardian Council (though their gender has never been cited as a reason).

The late prominent women& #39;s rights activist Azam Taleghani tried to run many times & break the taboo.

3. The main issue is criteria listed in the Iranian constitution for running for president, which says they must be "rajal siasi" (رجل سیاسی), an Arabic word that some say means man, but others argue means "political personalities."

4. The authority to interpret "rajal siasi" is with the Guardian Council, which until now has barred women from running.

But women& #39;s rights activists like Zahra Shojai, say the main architect of the #Iran& #39;s constitution, Ayatollah Beheshti, never intended that women can& #39;t run.

5. Shojai says gender was not meant by Beheshti to be a criteria for running for president, but qualities like "competence" & "piety" were.