Iran leader Mohammad Khatami falls ill amid crisis

BBC ^ | 1/31/04

[areafiftyone]

Iran's president Mohammad Khatami has reportedly fallen ill with back pain, forcing him to cancel his engagements.

It comes amid a worsening political crisis over the barring of thousands of candidates from February's elections.

Mr Khatami is said to have fallen ill after a ceremony at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini - to mark the 25th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

He has been forced to postpone a key meeting of his reformist cabinet to discuss the ban on 2,500 candidates.

On Friday, the hardline Guardian Council reinstated a third of the 3,600 candidates it disqualified from the election.

The official number of candidates now stands at around 5,450.

But it falls far short of the full reinstatement demanded by protesting reformist MPs, 80 of whom are themselves on the blacklist.

Interior Minister Abdolvahed Moussavi Lari warned it would be "out of the question" to hold elections. "The possibility of organising a free and competitive election does not exist", he said.

Anniversary

The political row continued as Iran prepared to commemorating the 1979 revolution that toppled the pro-US leadership and brought to power anti-American hardline clerics.

According to reports, the president fell ill shortly after he attended a ceremony, along with his entire cabinet, at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, father of the revolution.

The BBC's Miranda Eeles said sources close to the 60-year-old president blamed stress and pressure on his nerves for the illness.

The disqualifications by the Guardian Council - an unelected 12-member body that vets candidates for office and all laws - have drawn daily protests from the reformists.

MPs began circulating and signing letters of resignation on Saturday, the AFP news agency reported.

[COEXERJ145]

Too bad it isn't something more serious.

[areafiftyone]

I was thinking the same thing.

[nuconvert]

"the president fell ill shortly after he attended a ceremony, along with his entire cabinet, at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, father of the revolution. "

That's enough to make anyone sick.

[stboz]

"Bring out yer dead!" (Clang!) "Bring out yer dead!"

[The Dude Abides]

It very well could be more serious.

Iran is near a tipping point.

Iran as it exists now cannot survive much longer.

The lure of democracy pulls strongly on the people.

[blackbart.223]

"The possibility of organising a free and competitive election does not exist".

???? No sh*t?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[stboz]

He needs to light up a ceegar and have a shot or two of whiskey. That's what Mark Twain used against the lumbago.

[nuconvert]

been there, done that
# 4

[stboz]

He also said, "My habits preserve me, but they'd probably assassinate you."....We can only hope.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

PING me, then I will know. I'm good, but not all-knowing, yet!

(YES, I NEED GLASSES!)

[nuconvert]

OHHHH???
I thought once you reached your 1 year anniverary, you automatically became all knowing.
Now I have nothing to look forward to.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Hey, I'm just trying to keep up with YOU.

Day late and a dollar short.

[skinkinthegrass]

Too bad it isn't something more serious.

It may be that very serious "soviet disease" that happens during popular uprising/coup...like in Hungary '56, East Germany '89, the USSR '91.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Wishing him an early yet painful death.

[dr_who_2]

Remember when Gorbachev got "sick"?

[Future Useless Eater]

>>reportedly fallen ill with back pain, forcing him to cancel his engagements

There is probably some truth to this. Someone over there
not wanting to lie. But this could also mean he was shot in
the back.

[DoctorZIn]

This is not the first time he has suddenly gotten sick in a crisis.

Glad we have Bush on our side.

[sheik yerbouty]

Clearly, it is the will of Allah...