Leader of Ummah Imam Khamenei Urges Even Islamic Republic’s Opposition to Participate in February Elections

“Similar to the past, we insist all people, even those who don’t accept the Islamic Republic and the leader, to come to the ballot box since elections belong to the nation, Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said, addressing a large number of people in Tehran on Saturday.

Supreme Leader referred to the US attempts to stir tension and foment unrests during the events after the presidential election in 2009, and said, “The US administration backed up those events as much as it could but people’s timely presence on the scene foiled their plots.”

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei expressed confidence that the vigilant Iranian youth, people and officials would stand against enemies hopefully and with resistance and reliance on God.

In relevant remarks earlier this month, Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei warned that Washington is attempting to reach its ominous goals against Iran using the parliamentary elections in February.

“Similar to us, the Americans are after change, but we want changes that reduce the distance between the country and society and the goals of Islam and Revolution and they exactly want the opposite of the Iranian nation’s will and they are after distancing the society from the Revolution’s goals and bringing Iran close to their goals,” Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei said, addressing the Iranian Friday prayers leaders in Tehran.

“The Americans have pinned hope on the elections to materialize this goal,” Supreme Leader added.

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei expressed confidence that the great and vigilant Iranian nation will act against the enemies’ will, and called for mass participation in the February parliamentary elections.

Last February, Iran’s vetting body, the Guardian Council, agreed with an Interior Ministry proposal for holding the country’s next parliamentary elections in February 2016.

Spokesman of Iran’s Guardian Council Nejatollah Ebrahimian announced that the official date for the next legislative elections in the country would be February 26 next year.

In relevant remarks in October, Iranian Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Law Enforcement Affairs Hossein Zolfaqari underscored that the country’s security and intelligence forces are monitoring the enemies’ attempts to carry out espionage operations inside Iran, but they would intensify measures during the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“The infiltration attempts of spying agents are monitored by different bodies and wherever there is a ground that the enemy seeks to use it for infiltration, spying or different issues, it will be prevented or confronted legally, if necessary,” Zolfaqari told FNA at the time.

Also in May, Zolfaqari announced the country’s plans to set up cyber bases to boost security of the upcoming parliamentary elections in February 2016.

“The damages and threats in area of elections are divided into three political, security and management categories,” Zolfaqari told FNA.

“The elections security headquarters has been activated in provinces and towns and we will have desirable levels of security during the elections through setting up cyber bases, intelligence superiority and monitoring the situation,” he added.