A female winner of city council elections in Iran was disqualified for being too beautiful, France 24 reports.
The councilor, Nina Siahkali Moradi, should have been given a stand-by seat on the city council after she came 14th out of 163 candidates in the Qazvin city elections in Iran. However, election officials prevented her from taking office on the grounds that she was “not observing Islamic codes.”
“We don’t want catwalk models here,” the council leader proclaimed.
Siahkali is portrayed on her campaign material as wearing the statutory hijab, leaving her face visible.
The 27-year old Siahkali had campaigned under the banner “A Younger Mind for the Future of Youth” and only learnt of her disqualification during presidential elections, a week after the June 14 city council elections took place.
According to France 24, it is rare for candidates to be disqualified post-election as unsuitable candidates do not pass the initial background checks.
Iranian candidates are only allowed to run for office if they pass a large number of detailed background checks by the judiciary, intelligence ministry, police and National Organisation for Civil Registration.
Siahkali’s website states that she studied architecture, is trained in Kung Fu and is a member of Qazvin’s Calligraphy Council.