Continuation of the 'Farce' of Election Registration; Nika Shakeri's Mother: Participating in Elections is Complicity in the 'Crimes of the Evil Republic'

As the registration for the early presidential election candidates begins, hashtags such as 'Election Circus', 'No to Elections', and 'I Won't Vote' have gained traction, with some political figures from the Islamic Republic also acknowledging its performative nature. For instance, Gholamhossein Karbaschi, former mayor of Tehran and a prominent figure in the Construction Workers Party, described the registration of presidential candidates on Sunday, June 3, as a 'farce' and a precursor to 'moving beyond the republic' in the Islamic Republic. Karbaschi wrote: 'Is there a higher art than establishing a mechanism that turns the main symbol of democracy in a country into a farcical show or stand-up comedy under the guise of election registration, entertaining the public for a few days and wasting a lot of the country's time and budget to prepare the ground for moving beyond the republic in public opinion?' Additionally, Hossein Dehghashi, a historian and a figure close to Hassan Rouhani in the 2013 elections, stated that 'none of the registered candidates, from the one who becomes president to those who are disqualified, will end up unemployed.' He alluded to what is referred to as the 'Revolution's Table', saying that the registrants will eventually find a place at this table, 'some at the table and others at the end.' Some users have also noted that 'reformists and principlists' in the Islamic Republic appear different on the surface but function similarly, using hashtags like 'Election Circus', 'I Won't Vote', and 'No to Elections' to oppose participation in the 'electoral show'. Nasrin Shakeri, the mother of Nika Shakeri, a teenager killed during the nationwide protests of 2022, emphasized that 'participating in the elections means complicity in all the crimes of the Evil Republic and endorsing them.' She stated in an Instagram post that participating in the Islamic Republic's elections signifies 'complicity in murder, slaughter, and the violation of innocent people' and 'torture, blinding, and imprisoning the innocent', as well as contributing to 'the spread of poverty, corruption, and prostitution and displacing people'. Sirus Parsa, a political activist opposing the Islamic Republic, also emphasized: 'Rest assured that the regime (Islamic Republic) will use every trick to drag you to the ballot boxes' and 'never has the electoral show been as valuable and important for the government as it is this time.' This political activist also mentioned that it is even possible that sidelined and imprisoned figures of the Islamic Republic might be 'released or make sensational revelations in debates', asserting that all of this is 'part of a grand deception plan' and 'we must be vigilant and united and insist on a comprehensive boycott of the electoral circus.' A well-known user on the X platform, who identifies as Mehras, commented on this election, stating that 'different factions of the IRGC do not have significant disagreements among themselves' and 'all agree on the massacre of the people, preserving the regime and the IRGC, and consuming Iran.' According to him, 'these factions compete to show their loyalty' to the leader of the Islamic Republic and 'to reach the inner circle of Mojtaba (Khamenei) and heat up the oven.' Some users have also pointed to the backgrounds and histories of some of the presidential election registrants. For instance, Ali Karimi, a famous Iranian football star and a known opponent of the Islamic Republic, pointed out that Ali Larijani is not born in Iran and 'does not care about Iran', labeling the registrants in this election as 'Khamenei's mercenaries' and stating that 'every vote' in this election is 'a betrayal of Iran and Iranians'. Rahmatollah Bigdeli, a reformist political activist, analyzed an election image of Saeed Jalili, stating that Jalili has turned his back to the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran and used a book as a 'monitor stand'. He addressed Saeed Jalili on the X social network, saying: 'When your appearance is turned away from the people and the flag and the book is used as a monitor stand, your essence becomes the business of sanctions and moral policing!' Ehsan Aryan, a political activist, also addressed the candidacy of Vahid Haqaniyan, writing: 'The purpose of the registration of people like Vahid Haqaniyan, even though they are not expected to win votes, is not without reason. The reason for the presence of Khamenei's close circle in the electoral show is to engineer the atmosphere.' According to him, 'the fact that Vahid Haqaniyan, a special appointee of the office, registers for the election without any executive, diplomatic, or representative background, without anyone having heard his voice tone or knowing his political opinion, carries a code'; 'he has either come to nullify the victim card game by being disqualified or is supposed to shape the final atmosphere as a direct appointee of the office. If he is disqualified or is the final candidate, he will be seen as the office's representative in the public eye!' Elaheh Khosravi, a journalist, also reacted to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's candidacy in the presidential election, referencing the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan during the nationwide protests in 2009 and writing: 'Neda, stay.' The registration of candidates for the fourteenth presidential election of the Islamic Republic began on the morning of Friday, June 10, and is set to continue for five days. The presidential election is being held under circumstances where the second round of the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections faced widespread public boycotts and the lowest participation rate in the history of the Islamic Republic. The fourteenth round of the presidential election, originally scheduled for 2025, will be held a year earlier on July 8 of this year due to the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.