Outgoing President Hassan Rouhani stated when addressing a cabinet meeting that if Iranians do not believe that their vote has any meaning, then the Revolution will have effectively ended. Rouhani then called upon the country to repeat the “Twelfth of Farvardin”, referring to the Referendum that ended the monarchy and established the Islamic Republic in 1979, which had an official turnout of 98.2%
Poll Suggests Victory for Hardliners
A new poll suggests that voters will pick a Principalist or other conservative candidate in this June’s election, while upwards to 70% of Iranians are dissatisfied with the government of Hassan Rouhani. The results of the poll were published in a conservative paper, Fars, which was ambiguous on its source.
Last Three Presidents were Like “Unwanted Pregnancy” for Iran
Mohsen Kouhkan, a prominent Principalist parliamentarian, likened the electoral victories of Rouhani, Ahmadinejad and Khatami to an unwanted pregnancy, using the analogy to mean that all three Presidents approach the elections only to win and had no plans for how to run their administrations.
President of Iran: “Let’s keep our unity, let’s not destroy each other”
Outgoing President Rouhani urged the candidates and campaigners in this year’s election not to “destroy the government” through criticism of the current government.