Interior Ministry's Response to Hadad Adel's Claims of Government Interference in Elections

The Minister of Interior and his deputy reacted to Gholamali Hadad Adel's claims regarding the publication of documents about government officials' interference in the elections, calling for evidence and emphasizing that the confirmation of election results by the Guardian Council signifies the integrity of the elections. Gholamali Hadad Adel, the spokesperson for the Coalition of Principlists, claimed last Monday that there were concerns about blatant interference by government officials in the elections during a meeting of the Coalition's central council, citing multiple examples. On Wednesday, he told ILNA news agency that they have 'documents regarding the government's manipulation of the first round election results that are set to be published.' This principlist representative from Tehran, who failed to secure a seat in the tenth parliament, also claimed that 'some of this evidence has been submitted to the government, and we are following up on it.' These statements on Friday, March 10, received separate reactions from Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, and Hossein Ali Amiri, his deputy, both of whom requested Hadad Adel to present his evidence. Rahmani Fazli, who was visiting the election headquarters on Friday, stated without directly referencing Hadad Adel's claims that 'so far, we have not received any evidence indicating that executive bodies or other powers interfered in the elections.' He added that 'during the elections, instances of violations were reported to the governorates by all candidates, and these violations were not from government bodies, but rather from political rivals, all of which have been addressed.' The Minister of Interior reminded that 'when the results of elections in all constituencies are confirmed by the Guardian Council, it means the elections were conducted fairly. However, if there are any issues that could influence the election process, they should be reported to us in the Ministry of Interior and also to the Guardian Council for investigation.' The Deputy Minister of Interior also stated separately on Friday that 'while I have great respect for Dr. Hadad [Adel], if he has any documents, he should provide them to us for follow-up.' Hossein Ali Amiri also noted that the legal period for reviewing the first round of elections has ended and 'if there are any documents, they should have been submitted to the Guardian Council in due time.' 'If there were any evidence, the Guardian Council would not have hesitated,' the Deputy Minister of Interior added, referring to his previous membership in the Guardian Council and stating that if the Guardian Council had received 'documented, strong, and credible' evidence of officials' interference in the elections, it would not have hesitated to reject the validity of the elections in those areas. Amiri emphasized that when the Guardian Council confirmed the validity of the elections nationwide except for two constituencies in the first round, 'we must assume that all references, complaints, and reports were submitted to the Guardian Council, and this council has addressed them after reviewing all documents and complaints.' In the elections on March 7, Tehran citizens clarified the fate of 30 seats in the tenth parliament, and with the announcement of the election results, it became clear that the Hope List, supported by reformists and moderate figures backing the government, won the elections in the capital. In this election, Gholamali Hadad Adel, who led the Principlist Coalition in Tehran and was the top candidate on the Tehran list, ranked 31st, and even the Principlists' doubts about one of the members of the Hope List did not prevent the Guardian Council from confirming the validity of the elections in Tehran and Hadad Adel's entry into the tenth parliament. Nevertheless, Hadad Adel insisted that reformists only won in Tehran and by a narrow margin, claiming that 'the claimants of victory in the tenth parliament elections are the same instigators of the 2009 presidential election.' He also predicted that 'in the second round of elections, victory will belong to the Principlists.'