Reformist legislators in Iran held angry protests Sunday after a conservative oversight body barred almost a third of them from seeking reelection next month. The lawmakers first walked out of parliament, then dozens of them staged a sit-in to protest the sweeping decision by the hard-line Guardian Council, which under Iran’s complex theocratic system screens all candidates for national office. “It’s meaningless that qualification of prominent figures who have worked for the nation for years is not approved,” said President Mohammad Khatami, who was voted into office in 1997 on a reform platform. “I’m against such disqualifications. There are legal ways to fight.” Full Story