The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a meeting today with members of parliament, strongly defended the vetting of all but seven election candidates and asked Iranians to ignore calls for a massive boycott of the upcoming June 18 presidential elections.

Ali Khamenei told the MPs via video call that “the honorable Guardian Council, in accordance with its duty, did what it had to do and what it deemed necessary to do and identified the candidates”.

The Guardian Council, a 12-member body chosen by Khamenei, only approved seven of the 590 candidates who had registered to run for president. The approved election candidates are all hardliners and very close to Khamenei. They include Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi, a known accomplice in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s.

The regime’s Supreme Leader also asked Iranians to ignore calls for the boycott of elections.

“Do not pay attention to those who promote that it is useless, do not go to the polls. They are not sympathetic to the people. A person who is sympathetic does not prevent people from going to the polls,” he said.

Although the race is now between hardliners and hardliners, Iranians said they would not vote even before the Guardian Council announced the disqualifications on May 25.

Calls for the election boycott started from months before with mothers and families of slain protesters joining in. They say they will never forget or forgive the regime for murdering their loved ones. During the last round of anti-government protests in in November 2019, the regime killed at least 1,500 people including women and children under direct orders from Khamenei.

Khamenei also said the “effects” of the elections would last for years to come.

The regime’s Supreme Leader addressed the people of Iran telling them “to ask God for guidance” in choosing who to vote for. Ebrahim Raisi is Khamenei’s preferred candidate, and many see the disqualification of heavy weight candidates as an effort by the Supreme Leader to make him president and future Supreme Leader.

Source » irannewswire