As campaigning nears end, voices unite in Iran to call for mass turnout in election

As pre-election campaigning races to a close, voices have been uniting across Iran’s political, social and religious spectrum for a mass participation in the June 18 presidential election in order to bolster the nation’s global standing.

According to Iran’s election law, the candidates will have until 7:00 local time on Thursday to hold campaign event, after which they must observe 24 hours of silence before 7:00 on Friday, when the polls are scheduled to open.

Reports coming out of Iranian cities and towns suggest the presidential candidates’ campaign teams have, over the past days, organized more gatherings and political events, which have been very limited in number and size this year in adherence to the health protocols introduced against the deadly coronavirus candidates.

The streets across the country have also been reflective of the election mood, with many campaign posters and banners seen on the walls and billboards.

Five candidates will be contesting the presidential election on June 18, five of whom are affiliated with the Principlist camp.

Nasser Hemmati remains the only Reformist candidate in the race after fellow aspirant Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh dropped out in the early hours of Wednesday.

Principlist Alireza Zakani became the second candidate to drop out following Mehr-Alizadeh, urging his supporters to vote for Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, who is predicted to have the highest chance for election in opinion polls.

As Election Day draws near, the country’s politicians with both the Reformist and Principlist camps, officials, military men, religious minorities, and prominent public figures have joined voices to call for a high turnout in the election.

Leader: Passionate turnout in election to bolster Iran’s security, deterrent might

Ayatollah Khamenei says a passionate popular turnout in the June 18 presidential election will boost the capabilities of the administration-elect and strengthen the country’s security status and deterrent power.

‘Iranians should vote, protect the Republic’

On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani called on everyone to come to the ballot boxes, regardless of any complaints that they may have about a certain institution of the administration’s performance.

“Any complaints and criticisms aside, we all should safeguard the Republic, which is a legacy of the late Imam Khomeini and has been emphasized by the Leader of the Islamic Republic,” Rouhani told a cabinet meeting. “If we have a complaint about a single institution or the administration’s measures, that is fine! The solution, however, is not breakup with ballot boxes.”

A high turnout, Rouhani said, would help strengthen the foundations of Iran’s Islamic establishment and boosts the country’s power.

Sunni Muslims united with fellow Shia majority

Meanwhile, a group 600 senior Iranian Sunni Muslim figures have written to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, vowing to spare no effort to increase the turnout.

In a letter sent to the Leader on Wednesday, the Sunni Muslim figures — including clerics and imams of Friday Prayers — described elections as “a manifestation of power and a clear sign of the establishment begin both Islamic and republic.”

The Sunni Muslims said the Iranian nation will, God willing, add another “golden page to their own record of honors” by taking part en masse in the upcoming election.

The Sunni figures promised that they would leave no stone unturned to encourage all people, especially the Sunni Muslim community, to go to the ballot boxes on Friday.

“We announce to Your Excellency that the Iranian people, regardless of their ethnicity and faith, view voting as a right and a duty, with a proper understanding of the world’s current sensitive juncture, which has seen constant conspiracies of the global arrogance front and international Zionism [against the country,” the letter said.

Zoroastrian figure: Every Iranian duty-bound to vote

On Wednesday, Fars news agency published an interview with Ardeshir Khorshidian, a senior figure with Iran’s Zoroastrian community, on the significance of the upcoming vote.

Khorshidian, who heads the Mobed Association of Tehran, said every Iranian citizen is duty-bound to participate in the election and have a say in deciding the country’s future.

He said the one who gets elected on the back of the people’s vote “should know that he represents the entire Iranian people and nation and has been chosen as president with the vote of the majority; therefore, he is a representative of all people from any ethnicity, culture and race, who are Iranian nationals and possess an Iranian ID.”

Martyr Soleimani’s family invites people to vote

The family of Iran’s national hero, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, also invited the Iranians to turn out en masse in the election in a message issued to the nation on Wednesday.

The message said the country’s religious democracy is facing another “significant and momentous test” on Friday, urging everyone to not only participate but also encourage others to do so.

 Imam Khomeini’s grandson urges voting for the right person

In a message addressed to the Iranian nation on Wednesday, Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, invited the people to vote for the “right” person as a way to protect the Republic.

Khomeini, a cleric close to the Reformist camp, described the Islamic Republic as a great legacy of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini and the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the Revolution, stressing that it is the “ever-lasting duty” of everyone to safeguard the combination of democracy and religion in the country’s political system.

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