Khamenei's Expectations from the President: 'Consideration for the Weak and Combating Corruption'

Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, on Saturday, May 30, without congratulating Hassan Rouhani on his election victory, urged the 'honorable President and all those who will participate in the next government' to 'take motivated, thoughtful, and youthful action to address the country's problems.' Without directly naming Hassan Rouhani, he asked the President and his government members not to 'momentarily neglect this straight line' and added: 'Consideration for the weak, attention to villages and poor areas, prioritizing issues, combating corruption and social harms must be at the forefront of the programs.' In recent months and years, he has repeatedly criticized the performance of Hassan Rouhani's government indirectly. On May 20, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that 'the enemy's medium-term goal is the issue of the economy and the livelihood of the people,' with topics such as unemployment and declining production in the country aimed at 'causing people to lose hope in the Islamic Republic due to livelihood problems.' Typically, he and his supporters name the United States as the enemy and criticize American officials for what they claim is 'interference in Iran's internal affairs,' while the U.S. denies these accusations. Meanwhile, Hassan Rouhani, in a Twitter message published after his victory in the May 29 elections, wrote to the people of Iran that they are the 'winners' of the election and added: 'I humbly bow before you and will remain faithful to my promise to you.' In his message on Saturday, Ayatollah Khamenei described the participation of over 40 million people in the May 29 elections as 'a clear sign of the strength of the foundations of Islamic democracy and the collective attachment to it,' adding: 'All classes, all tastes, all political tendencies came together and voted for the Islamic Republic side by side.' In part of his message, the leader of the Islamic Republic called on the people to 'think of unity and public agreement' after the turmoil of the days and weeks leading up to the election and added: 'National dignity and adherence to wisdom in global communications and attention to international power are among the priorities of revolutionary and Islamic management.' He also thanked the presidential candidates who, in his description, 'had a serious impact on enlightening and inspiring for the elections.' This comes as Ayatollah Khamenei on May 27 deemed some 'remarks' made during the presidential debates as 'unworthy' of the Iranian people. The leader of the Islamic Republic had previously warned on May 20 about the possibility of creating 'insecurity and sedition' during the elections, threatening the candidates and their supporters that 'whoever rises against the security of the country will face a severe blow.' He announced that 'if anyone intends to act against the security of the country, they will certainly face a severe blow,' and asked the candidates not to 'stir up ideological, geographical, linguistic, and ethnic fault lines due to misjudgment and not to fall into the unfinished designs of the enemy.'