Hassan Rouhani: There Should Be No Doubt About Election Engineering

The President of Iran defended the government's performance regarding the approval of candidates for the parliamentary elections and called on other institutions to adhere to the law, stating that all bodies must act in a way that 'no doubt about the engineering of the elections arises in anyone's mind.' In a television interview on Tuesday, February 1, Hassan Rouhani stated that the government has performed 'well' in the matter of approving candidates for the parliamentary elections and expressed his satisfaction with the performance of government agencies in this regard. He emphasized that he has been 'very sensitive' about the issue of elections and thanked all candidates and those whose qualifications were rejected who 'legally' pursued their approval. The Iranian president expressed hope that 'all institutions pay special attention to the law' and stressed that there should be 'a very glorious election with maximum participation and maximum competition, and in the best way that there is no doubt in it.' He stated that 'we should not create doubts in people's minds' and that all institutions must strive to ensure that 'no doubt about election engineering arises in anyone's mind.' Rouhani also urged the public to 'pay attention to the fact that their presence at the polls is very, very important' and that 'no one should boycott the election for any reason.' On January 21, in response to the disqualification of a large number of parliamentary candidates, which he said had supporters numbering up to 10 million, he stated that 'the parliament is the house of the nation, not a faction.' These remarks provoked a strong reaction from the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, several Friday prayer leaders including those in Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan, the clerical faction in parliament, and representatives of the Stability Front in parliament. Meanwhile, while the executive bodies affiliated with the Ministry of Interior approved 10,954 candidates and disqualified 814 candidates, or about seven percent of the candidates, according to Nejatollah Ebrahimi, a legal member of the Guardian Council, only the qualifications of 'about 40 percent' of candidates were approved by the supervisory bodies affiliated with the Guardian Council. In another part of his remarks, the Iranian president announced that his government wants to 'work with the world' and has no problem with American entrepreneurs investing in Iran. Today, Iran is in a position where it 'chooses its economic partners,' whereas during the sanctions, 'cooperation was limited to a few countries.' Rouhani emphasized that 'our view is not solely towards the West, and we use all countries for cooperation in a competitive environment.' He added that 'every country has its advantages, and South and North America or Latin America also have good advantages.' He stated, 'Even if American entrepreneurs want to come to Iran and invest, we have no problem and want to work with the world.' Rouhani stressed that the Islamic Republic 'is not seeking to settle scores,' but at the same time, 'the Iranian nation is loyal' and will not forget the countries that helped Iran during the sanctions. In October, he also stated that there is 'no prohibition' for American companies to operate and that these companies can engage in investment and technology transfer to Iran in a post-sanctions competitive environment. Rouhani's statements come at a time when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, in his letter approving the Vienna nuclear agreement, called for avoiding the import of 'any consumer goods from America' after the lifting of sanctions. Following this warning and directive from the Supreme Leader, government officials also announced that they had stopped the entry of any American goods. Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, the head of the Supreme Leader's office, stated on August 22 that 'Americans are even trying to promote their culture and lifestyle through the establishment of companies and cartels and the launching of some economic enterprises like McDonald's.'