The Friday Imam of Mashhad, Ahmad Alam-ol-Hoda, said in his weekly sermon that those who encourage people to not participate in the elections are infidels. Citing the upcoming anniversary of the liberation of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War, the senior cleric added that “for 42 years, our people have stood by the Revolution, and this earned them dignity in the world, which our enemies seek to take from us”.