Days after renewed street protests in Tehran, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution requests the Iranian political elite to exercise caution when commenting on the country’s political situation.
“Everyone should proceed with extreme vigilance with respect to their stance, both in what they say and what they do not say,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned in a Monday meeting with state officials, broadcast by state television.
Addressing the recent political turmoil in Iran, the Leader went on to label the political situation in the country as a major challenge presented to political figures, while calling on the ruling elite to avoid any measures that could play into the hands of those deemed as enemies of the nation.
“The political elite should maintain great vigilance because they currently face a significant challenge; their failure to rise to this challenge will lead to their collapse,” cautioned Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Leader cited rationalism as the sole solution to the existing political tensions in Iran and described the much-needed logic as drastically different from “the common political games” played in the country.
The remarks come several days after renewed protests emerged on Friday when influential cleric and politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani led prayers attended by hundreds of thousands of people at Tehran University.
During his sermon, Hashemi-Rafsanjani criticized authorities for their handling of the country’s presidential election and the post-vote unrest.
Following the Friday address, opposition supporters present at the venue of the prayers took to the streets of Tehran and chanted slogans against the emergence of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the official victor of the July 12 elections.
Clashes erupted outside the Tehran University campus as security forces reacted by using tear gas to disperse the protesters.
“If the nation feels that in the remarks made by certain officials there lies an issue of enmity with the Islamic system and certain hands are at work to help a movement that seeks to deliver a blow to the establishment, they [the nation] will distance themselves [from those officials], even if such officials pursue a slogan that has arisen from the nation,” said the Leader.
