Pezeshkian's Promise to Combat Internet Censorship and Guidance Patrols if Elected

Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist candidate in the presidential elections, has pledged to stand against internet censorship and the Guidance Patrol if he wins in the upcoming runoff election. Pezeshkian, who is competing against Saeed Jalili, the conservative candidate, faces the challenge of election boycotts from opponents of the Islamic Republic and is trying to persuade hesitant citizens to vote. In response to a user on social media X who sought guarantees against the Guidance Patrol and internet censorship, he stated: "I guarantee that the entire government will stand firm against mandatory patrols, filtering, VPN games, and external pressures in all meetings and fully." However, Pezeshkian's response drew criticism from activists opposing participation in the elections, including Mehdi Mahmoudian, a reformist political activist who opposes voting. Mahmoudian stated that Pezeshkian could only claim to have provided a clear and precise guarantee if he addressed the government directly, demanding written assurances that if lifestyle crises or internet filtering issues are not resolved by next year, he would resign. This political activist, who has a history of imprisonment due to protests against internet shutdowns during the November 2019 protests and has expressed solidarity with victims of the Ukrainian plane shot down by the IRGC, emphasized that these issues are not within the president's authority and highlighted the difference in how a civil activist questions and how a presidential candidate responds, indicating a difference between reformism and transition demands. According to the Ministry of Interior's election headquarters, the participation rate in the first round of the 14th presidential election in Iran was 39.9%, the lowest in the history of such elections in the country. Meanwhile, Pezeshkian advanced to the next stage of the election with only 10,415,191 votes, a shaky result. Dozens of Iranian activists have called for a boycott of the second round of the presidential elections. On Sunday, Ali Tayebnia, the economy minister in Hassan Rouhani's first government and a professor at Tehran University, joined Pezeshkian's team, being mentioned as the main candidate for the Ministry of Economy in Pezeshkian's potential government. Media supporting Pezeshkian have described Tayebnia as the most successful economy minister in the history of the Islamic Republic, who managed to bring inflation down to single digits during his tenure. While Pezeshkian has garnered support from various reformist groups and figures such as Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani, his views on issues like U.S. sanctions against the IRGC and his descriptions of recent anti-government protests have drawn criticism. In the first round of the election campaign, Pezeshkian's main emphasis was on implementing the general policies of the system approved by the Supreme Leader, which opponents of participation in the elections argue indicates that there is ultimately little difference between the candidates and it does not matter who becomes the next president. In this context, a letter signed by 55 civil and political activists, including Narges Mohammadi, Pouran Nazemi, Gohar Eshghi, Shoaleh Pakrovan, Qasem Shoaleh-Sadi, Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, and Mohammad Nourizad, was published, calling all candidates in this election "controlled and handpicked." The signatories of this letter stated that "the action of non-participation and turning away from the regime's patched-up scenarios will place the people in a position of calculable force and powerful protest potential." The second round of the Iranian presidential elections is set to take place this Friday to determine the successor to Ebrahim Raisi.