Enemy seeks to prevent Iranian unity in elections: Emami-Kashani

Tehran’s interim Friday Prayers leader says the enemies of the Islamic Republic have invested in preventing the mass turnout of the Iranian nation in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani cautioned against enemy plots to disrupt the mass turnout of Iranians in the March 2nd elections, stressing that it is vital for the people to maintain a unified front.

He added that “remaining united and avoiding dissention” will bring honor for the country.

“For 33 years, they (the West) have imposed political and economic sanctions on us, but, as the Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei and other officials have repeatedly stated, these sanctions have awakened the Iranian nation and in the end will backfire upon those imposing them.”

On New Year’s Eve, the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran aimed at preventing other countries from importing Iranian oil and transactions with its central bank.

European Union foreign ministers also approved sanctions against Iran’s oil and financial sectors on January 23, including a ban on Iranian oil imports, a freeze on the assets of the country’s Central Bank within EU states, and a ban on selling grains, diamonds, gold, and other precious metals to Tehran.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to push for four rounds of UN sanctions and a series of unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful use.