City Councilor Considered 'Too Hot,' Denied Seat

Is Nina Siahkali Moradi too sexy for Iranian politics? The 27-year-old candidate won a city council seat in the city of Qazvin, but has been mysteriously disqualified at the last minute, the Independent reports. A senior Qazvin official said that "we don't want a catwalk model on the council," but a human rights group argues that Moradi was disqualified due to "non-observance of Islamic codes," and notes that her pro-youth campaign posters may have aroused complaints from conservative rivals.

A city review board member says that her 10,000 votes were nullified because "the review board did not approve her credentials," yet Moradi says the board never spoke to her. A legal expert in Qazvin calls it a "pretext," arguing that it's illegal for the review board to disqualify her after the election. The debate comes as new Iranian President Hassan Rowhani promises to improve women's rights in the country. "Women work but don’t enjoy equal rights," he said in a televised debate. "I will form a women’s affairs ministry to return their trampled rights to them. " (More Iran stories.)