Iran’s Police Chief Vows Calm Presidential Election in June

Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam said his forces can monitor and foil any foreign plot which might pose a threat to the country’s upcoming presidential election slated for June 2013, and ensured that the election will be held in a calm atmosphere.

“We promise that Iran’s presidential election will be held in an atmosphere calmer than all the previous elections,” Ahmadi Moqaddam said, addressing a ceremony in Kerman province on Tuesday.

“We are already having a close watch on foreign threats, any ground for insecurity in the country and all areas neglecting which could cause a loss at the time of elections,” he said.

Last month, Deputy Iranian Interior Minister for Security and Law Enforcement Affairs Ali Abdollahi said the Interior Ministry “has a close watch on all activities related to the upcoming presidential election” throughout the country.

“We are monitoring (election) activities in all provinces and it is our routine mission,” Abdollahi told FNA at the time.

“No security problem has so far been reported to us regarding the 2013 presidential election,” he noted.

In September, the ministry announced the country will hold the next presidential election on June 14 next year.

The interior ministry announced in its statement that the presidential election will be held concurrent with municipal voting.

This will be the first time that the two elections are held together. More than 100,000 seats are up for grabs on the local level, and campaigning for them can have national implications.