Khamenei: The Assembly of Experts Should Choose a Leader Who Stands Against the Enemy After Me

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, referred to the Assembly of Experts as an "important assembly" and stated: "The Assembly of Experts is supposed to choose a leader who stands against the onslaught of the enemy, shows courage, and continues the path of Imam when the current leader is no longer there or when there is no leader." In a meeting with a group of people from Qom on Saturday morning, January 19, he added: "Depending on the composition of the Experts, they may choose someone for leadership who, relying on God and with courage, stands against the enemies and continues the path of Imam, but there is also the possibility that they may choose someone with different characteristics for leadership, so they must be voted for with research, precision, knowledge, and confidence." The next elections for the Assembly of Experts are scheduled to be held on March 7 (less than two months from now) across Iran. According to the Iranian Constitution, the Assembly of Experts is the only institution responsible for selecting or dismissing the leader of the Islamic Republic. In his remarks on Saturday, Khamenei emphasized the importance of making the right choice in these elections, stating: "If those who have introduced a list are religious, faithful, revolutionary, and on the path of Imam, I trust their words and will vote for them; however, if I see that they do not pay much attention to the issues of the revolution, religion, and the independence of the country and are more concerned with the words of America and others, I will not trust their words." The leader of the Islamic Republic also urged "everyone," including "those who do not accept the system," to participate in the upcoming elections to "preserve the country's credibility." Khamenei even added that "someone may not accept me but still participate in the elections." According to the leader, elections "do not belong to the leadership, but to Islamic Iran. It is to ensure the continuity of the country and to keep the country in complete security." Besides the elections for the Assembly of Experts, the elections for the tenth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly will also be held on March 7. The Guardian Council of Iran, whose members are directly or indirectly appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei, is responsible for approving or disqualifying candidates for both assemblies. In recent weeks, remarks by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council and a current member of the Assembly of Experts, regarding the oversight of this assembly over the leader of the Islamic Republic and the possibility of a council leadership in Iran have provoked strong reactions among other senior officials and conservatives. Among them, Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, stated that "political losers" are seeking to "reduce the power and authority" of the leader of the Islamic Republic. In another part of his speech, the leader of the Islamic Republic said, "We have a broad front of enemies in front of us." Khamenei defined this "front" as including "the leaders of the Zionist regime and the U.S. government to Takfiri elements and ISIS; all their analyses are focused on how to uproot the mighty tree of the revolution." He then emphasized that "all our efforts should be to ensure the continuity of the revolution" and strongly criticized the United States. Khamenei also referred to the Green Movement and the protests of 2009, stating that "the events of 2009 were new initiatives against the revolution; under the pretext of electing a government that is not accepted by America, they brought out the minority that did not win votes into the streets and gave them a color and helped them. They came here to do the same but failed." The leader of the Islamic Republic stressed that those events were a "failed color revolution" and that "they received a slap in the face." Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two candidates who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election, led the subsequent protest movement. These two, along with Zahra Rahnavard, Mousavi's wife, have been under house arrest since the winter of 2010 without a trial.