Rouhani Warns Iranian Armed Forces Against 'Political Games'

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, emphasized on Tuesday, April 29, during a speech on Army Day, the need for the armed forces to refrain from 'entering political games and economic temptations.' According to the state news agency IRNA, Rouhani considered the 'integrity and honesty' of Iran's armed forces in adhering to the recommendations and will of Ruhollah Khomeini and the current leader of the Islamic Republic regarding staying away from political games. Rouhani stated that the recommendation and will of the founder of the Islamic Republic and its current leader is that 'our armed forces must stay away from political games, and the further the armed forces are from political games, as emphasized by Imam Khomeini, the more powerful they will be, and the nation will stand alongside that armed force.' The Iranian President added that he believes the Islamic Republic's army and 'other armed forces' have adhered to this will of Ruhollah Khomeini and the emphasis of Ali Khamenei over the 30 years following the Iran-Iraq War, stating that 'this is important for us.' These remarks come just a month before the twelfth presidential election in Iran, scheduled for May 29. Meanwhile, these assertions by the Iranian President come at a time when Ali Saeedi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, previously called the slogans of 'cross-factional' and 'neutrality' in elections a 'big lie.' He had also stated that 'the inherent duty of the IRGC is to logically and reasonably engineer the elections.' Following Saeedi's remarks, on October 24, 2016, the Supreme Leader communicated the general policies of elections to the heads of the three branches of government and the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council, which stated in its sixteenth clause that 'supporting candidates' by the armed forces and the three branches of government and intelligence and security agencies is prohibited. In response to this directive from Ali Khamenei, Rasoul Sanaei Rad, the political deputy of the IRGC, said that the armed forces had not interfered in elections even before the Supreme Leader's directive and were only engaged in 'clarification and enlightenment.' Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC, also recently announced that 'no one among the IRGC members and commanders has the right to interfere politically or factionally in elections as in the past.' However, following these statements, Mahmoud Sadqi, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, wrote a letter to the commander of the IRGC stating that the arrest of managers of several political Telegram channels has raised 'a wave of concern' regarding the 'commitment' to the promise of non-interference by this institution in elections. The IRGC and its commanders have repeatedly denied accusations of interference in elections, deeming them 'baseless.' Meanwhile, some political groups in Iran have previously accused this military force and the Basij of intervening in elections, particularly referencing the presidential elections of 2005 and 2009. In his continued remarks on Army Day, Rouhani also referred to the involvement of the armed forces in economic activities, stating that 'the entry of armed forces into economic temptations can divert them from their lofty goals. Economic temptations can distract the thoughts of commanders and armed forces from their primary duties.'