Criticism of Government Institutions and Media Support for Saeed Jalili in the Second Round of Elections

Simultaneously with the request from Masoud Pezeshkian's campaign head for judicial authorities to act against government media for their "open and covert interventions" against Pezeshkian and "advertising in favor of his opponent," state television was also accused of violating neutrality in the electoral debates. Ali Abdolali Zadeh, Pezeshkian's campaign head, on Tuesday, July 12, sent a letter to the judiciary and the election headquarters, the prosecutor's office, and the Guardian Council, complaining about the "open and covert interventions" of certain state media, including the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with the newspapers Javan and Kayhan. He referred to Article 68 of the country's election law, which prohibits any promotional or anti-promotional activities by government institutions that use public funds, and called for action against these media. Abdolali Zadeh continued, stating, "There is no oversight over the blatant violations of state and military media, and the law is being shredded in the eyes of public opinion." At the same time, Mahdi Davatgari, a lawyer and member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, described the Tasnim news agency's claim, close to the IRGC, about "Pezeshkian's financial efforts to attract celebrities" as an "insult to the dignity and reputation" of this electoral candidate and stated that according to the law, this media should be dealt with for "spreading rumors and false information and publishing lies with the intent to disturb public opinion." The newspaper "Donya-e-Eqtesad" also criticized the "significant involvement of the thirteenth government institutions" in favor of Saeed Jalili in the electoral competition, stating: "Principlists may pursue a strategy of reducing participation, as they know that the higher the participation, the less likely their candidate is to win." Mohammad Qasim Othmani, a representative from Boukan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also criticized the open support of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf for Saeed Jalili, saying that as the Speaker of Parliament, he cannot support any of the candidates. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Vaezi, the head of the former president's office and deputy and head of the political office of the Moderation and Development Party, along with Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the communications minister of Hassan Rouhani's government, criticized state television for "not maintaining neutrality in allocating time" for each of the presidential candidates. Azari Jahromi, in a message on X, referred to Vahid Jalili, the deputy of state television, and said that Mr. Jalili's brother at state television should calculate the debate times tonight and account for the extra time given to him and reallocate it to Mr. Pezeshkian. Mahmoud Vaezi also stated in a message that state television did not adhere to the policy of neutrality in the previous night's debate, saying, "Jalili deliberately spoke during Pezeshkian's speaking time to disrupt his focus, and the host unprofessionally remained silent." In the first round of elections, less than 40% of eligible voters went to the polls, and out of 24.5 million votes, more than one million were invalid. The second round of the presidential election is scheduled to be held on Friday, July 15.