Ministry of Interior Announces 'Fundamental Considerations' and Conditions for Holding 2017 Elections

On Saturday, the Deputy Minister of Interior for Security in Iran announced the 'fundamental considerations' of the ministry for holding the 2017 presidential elections, including a ban on the announcement of election results before the official declaration by the Ministry of Interior and the arrest of specific political individuals and closure of campaign headquarters only with consultation from the provincial or national security headquarters. According to the state news agency IRNA, Hossein Zolfaqari stated that these 'fundamental considerations for the elections have been agreed upon nationally.' Much of these 'fundamental considerations' remind one of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential elections and the arrests and incidents that followed, the aftershocks of which continue to this day. Zolfaqari mentioned that the prohibition of announcing results before the official declaration and the prohibition of illegal interference in elections are among these 'fundamental considerations.' He added that a recently included clause, developed in cooperation with judicial and security agencies, stipulates that the arrest of specific political individuals or the closure of campaign headquarters must be done in consultation with the provincial or national security headquarters. The announcement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the 2009 presidential elections with 24 million votes by IRNA and other media supporting Ahmadinejad on the evening of the election day, before the official announcement of results, was one of the issues protested by supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the candidates contesting the election results. Before the end of the 2009 presidential elections, several campaign headquarters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, including the Qeytarieh headquarters, were shut down by plainclothes forces. On the election day, several members of the Participation Front party were arrested, who later stated that their arrest warrants had been issued before the elections. In this context, Mostafa Tajzadeh, a member of the Participation Front, wrote in a letter to the Supreme Leader in 2012: 'In which free country are arrest warrants issued for activists of the campaign headquarters of rival candidates (candidates critical of the ruling faction) a few days before the elections, and on the election day, the campaign headquarters of rival candidates are attacked, and the day after the elections, the officials of their headquarters are arrested?' The Deputy Minister of Interior also emphasized that 'if unity, ethics, and law are not observed,' there is a possibility of 'tension and unrest' during the elections. According to Zolfaqari, 'the prohibition of inciting emotions, especially in areas with various ethnicities and religions, and the prohibition of making promises beyond the responsibilities and capabilities of candidates' are among the other 'fundamental considerations for the elections.' In another part of his speech, the Deputy Minister of Interior stated: 'The intelligence and security community has reported that the activities of opposition groups will intensify next year and in the lead-up to the elections; however, we will closely monitor any movements.' He added: 'These groups are looking to recruit within the country, and the issue of Trumpism has also exacerbated the situation, which requires its own measures.' He did not clarify what he meant by 'the issue of Trumpism.' Zolfaqari also announced on January 3 that an 'security atlas' for the 2017 presidential elections had been prepared and stated that the security measures for the 2017 elections had begun five months prior. Before the 10th parliamentary elections, he had also announced the preparation of an 'security atlas' for those elections and stated that four provinces, encompassing ten electoral districts, had been classified as red security zones. The Deputy Minister of Interior also mentioned that the election security headquarters was monitoring 'the movements of groups,' 'the positions of political currents in the country,' 'the keywords of foreign media,' and 'the trends in cyberspace.'