Students of Sharif University Address Reformist Candidate: We Are Tired of Your Colorful Deceptions

The Islamic Association of Students at Sharif University issued a statement directed at Masoud Pezeshkian, the approved candidate of the so-called reformists to replace the deceased President Ebrahim Raisi of the thirteenth government of the Islamic Republic, stating, "We are tired of your daily colorful deceptions." The Secretary of the Islamic Association, Ali Karimi, during Pezeshkian's campaign appearance on June 18, 2024, addressed this government-approved candidate, saying, "You see yourself as a doctor coming to provide artificial respiration to the lifeless body of democracy; however, the path of this body leads not to the treatment room but to the graveyard." Karimi added, "You are an electoral candidate whose qualifications have not even been confirmed for those close to the core of the ruling establishment. What value does this qualification, which is based on expediency, have other than being a show to attract public participation?" He stated, "We saw how you supported the security institutions when the security and tranquility of the university were under their feet, and moments later, you portrayed yourself as a supporter of the people's movement," and continued by asking, "What has changed now, except that the expiration date of the reformists has passed for the people?" The Secretary of the Islamic Association continued: "Today, the ruling power is so intoxicated with arrogance that even the slap of public non-participation in the most important political arenas does not make it aware. If the value of the people is not just for these four days of elections, why did this value not find its way in the vaccine entry permit? After all, we do not forget that the disease that brought death to the people's bedside was not COVID but the vile virus of autocracy." Ali Karimi, referring to the widespread arrests of critical students and the "transformation of the university into a security space," noted: "In a land created by the powerful, our sisters do not have the security to be present in the streets due to the morality police. We have seen the abduction of women and girls for the crime of their hair and have not forgotten why people took to the streets in the nationwide protests of 2022." As the fourteenth government of the Islamic Republic is set to be introduced in early elections following Ebrahim Raisi's death on July 8, 2024, a climate of distrust and unwillingness to participate in this election has been reported from Iran. The so-called reformist faction, which the people labeled as "finished" alongside conservatives during the nationwide protests of 2022, is attempting to regain a share of power by having a representative like Masoud Pezeshkian in this governmental competition, and many believe they aim to "heat up the election furnace."