Nine Female Prisoners Emphasize Boycott of Government Elections: A Desperate Attempt to Save a Desperate Regime

A group of female prisoners at Evin Prison issued an open letter declaring that they have not participated and will not participate in the government elections to determine the successor to Ebrahim Raisi. In the letter published on Golrokh Iraee's Instagram account, these women, who identify themselves as "leftist women imprisoned in Evin Prison," stated: "Such elections are a desperate attempt to save a regime that has lost its legitimacy." According to them, the candidates approved by the Islamic Republic government "are, like every other period, a symbol of the decay of this fascist regime" and that "the only time the people are [supposedly] given the right to choose is when they select one from among the oppressors to continue the established reactionary order for a few more years." Anisha Asadollahi, Reyhaneh Ansarinezhad, Hasti Amiri, Golrokh Iraee, Nahid Taghavi, Nahid Khodajoo, Nasrin Khazari Javadifar, and Maryam Yahyavi emphasized at the end of their open letter: "We believe that liberation is not possible through ballot boxes but only through our own hands and through conscious struggle against all forms of exploitation, oppression, and discrimination." Previously, many prominent political figures, protesters, bereaved families, political and civil activists, and political parties and organizations with various orientations had announced that they would not participate in the "government appointments" and "election circus." The U.S. State Department also previously stated, referring to the upcoming second round of government elections to determine Ebrahim Raisi's successor, that "these elections in Iran are not free and fair" and that whatever the final result is, "unfortunately" the Biden administration does not expect any fundamental change in the direction Iran is heading or that "the Iranian regime will respect the rights of its citizens more." The first round of the Islamic Republic elections to determine Ebrahim Raisi's successor was held on Friday, during which, according to claimed official statistics, about 77% of eligible voters in Tehran and 60% nationwide did not participate, marking the lowest voter turnout in presidential elections in the history of the Islamic Republic. According to government news agencies, the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic claimed that with the "counting" of more than 24 million of the claimed "votes" in the government elections on Friday to determine Ebrahim Raisi's replacement from among the government's candidates for the title of "presidency," Massoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili advanced to the second round. The statistics and figures from the Islamic Republic's government sources have always been seriously questioned and disputed by independent observers and sources. According to government announcements, the second round of the elections is scheduled to be held on Friday, July 6, to determine Raisi's replacement for the presidency from among the two candidates preferred by the government. Ebrahim Raisi was the thirteenth president of the Islamic Republic, who was killed in the third year of his presidency following a helicopter crash in May of this year.