Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Monday restored the candidacy of Riyadh Younis Jassim after a previous decision had barred his ratification in the 2025 parliamentary elections over allegations of forged academic credentials.

According to an official document, the Board of Commissioners rescinded the disqualification after the Ministry of Education’s General Directorate of Legal Affairs verified that Jassim’s certificate, issued in Iran, is authentic and formally equivalent to Iraq’s scientific secondary school qualification, concluding there were “no legal or procedural grounds” to prevent his candidacy on the Reconstruction and Development (Al-Ima’ar wal Tanmiya) Coalition list, led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.