The Widespread Campaign to Boycott the 'Election Circus'; Users: We Stay Home and Witness the Last Breaths of the Regime

As the Iranian government increases its efforts to promote participation in the elections, the hashtag 'Election Circus' has become widespread, with many users on social media emphasizing the necessity of not participating. Prince Reza Pahlavi recently used the hashtag 'Election Circus' along with the release of five short videos to draw citizens' attention to the performative nature of the upcoming elections in the Islamic Republic, scheduled for Friday, March 2. Following this action, many users employed the same hashtag to say 'no' to the government elections. Iranian social media users have described the elections for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts as 'performative' and 'staged,' claiming that participating in them would endorse the continuation of the killing of protesters and human rights violations. In the lead-up to the elections, the hashtag 'Election Circus' has become one of the prevalent phrases on social media platform X. Saeed Ghasemi-Nejad, an Iranian-American economist, emphasized that Prince Reza Pahlavi directly addressed and mocked Khamenei, and it is natural that Khamenei's virtual army of clowns has mobilized in response. Mohammad-Reza Jahan-Pour, another Iranian-American economist, stated that 'a participant in the election circus, if they do not have a direct benefit from the continuation of the current situation, certainly lacks the ability to distinguish between good and bad.' He also mentioned that Iranian users should know that the economic output of the Islamic Republic is disappointing compared to Bangladesh, Botswana, and several other countries, and 'the growth of welfare indicators has been greater than Iran's; participating in the election circus will not change that. The legacy of 57 must be buried.' A group of users has also called for a boycott of the elections with the hashtag 'Vote Without a Vote.' Among them, Masih Alinejad, a human rights activist and journalist, emphasized by sharing a video from some grieving families that 'the number of these bereaved families has now increased, and one Iran says no to the Islamic Republic, with some even considering discussing the elections as warming up this ridiculous show.' Some citizens have also shared images of victims of human rights violations and those killed by the Islamic Republic's forces to call for a boycott of the elections. One user published a photo of Kian Pirfalak and said, 'Participating in the election circus means complicity in his murder.' Another user shared a photo of one of the victims of the November 2019 protests, stating, 'Mohsen Mohammadi-Pour was a high school student and construction worker; he went to protest in Khorramshahr during the bloody November 2019 to free our Iran, but the ballot box owners killed him, and the election promoters danced on his corpse.' This user addressed those who might intend to participate in the elections, saying, 'If you want to go out on election circus day, remember you are stepping on Mohsen's blood.' Reza Behrouz, an Iranian-American doctor and civil activist, also called for remembering that 'in the lead-up to the election circus, the Islamic Republic killed the eternal names Majid-Reza Rahnavard and Dr. Aida Rostami on the same day.' One user pointed out that 'our victory as the people of Iran is right after the election circus,' adding, 'Let us launch the biggest campaign to expose and delegitimize the 57 regime. Low-cost but very effective and beneficial.' Another user shared an image of the violent attack by government forces on an elderly man during protests and told those who might intend to participate in the elections, 'When you go to vote, do not forget this old man.' Borghan Nezha-Abad, an Iranian-American economist and civil activist, pointed out the 'contradictions of the election circus organizers,' which he said 'have reached a new level of absurdity.' Niyak Ghorbani, a political activist, shared a poem by 'Shida Hamdani,' performed by the imprisoned poet herself, encouraging Iranians not to participate in the elections. Bijan Kian, a political analyst, shared images from 'Vote Without a Vote' pamphlets, stating, 'Let it reach the ears of the shameless killer leader of the Islamic Caliphate; even if he dances with his incomplete body and begs, the people will not vote. This bloodthirsty killer will see justice.' Some families of the bereaved and relatives of those killed in nationwide protests and victims of human rights violations by the Islamic Republic have also called for a boycott of the elections. Mojgan Eftekhar, the mother of Mahsa Jina Amini, who was killed in custody on September 16, 2022, wrote in an Instagram post, 'Where there is no freedom, if voting could change anything, they would not let you vote.' Nasrin Shakeri, the mother of Nika Shakeri, a teenage protester killed during the suppression of nationwide protests, also shared a symbolic image of a cleric sitting by a ballot box with a noose, depicting Iran being hanged. Gohar Eshghi, the mother of the bereaved Sattar Beheshti, predicted that 'the Iranian people will slap the bloodthirsty Zahak and his corrupt and criminal regime hard for the sacrificed lives of their children tomorrow.' Using the hashtag 'The Islamic Republic must go,' she shared images of human rights violations by the government, adding, 'We will not forget the criminals and their mercenaries from place to place, city to city; we will not forgive them. We will not forget those who have followed the criminals and stepped on our youth's blood. We will free Iran and bring the criminals to justice for their actions.' Fatemeh Heydari, the sister of the bereaved Javad Heydari, one of the victims of the 2021 protests in Qazvin, shared an image of a slogan written on a wall in Iran, stating, 'Their guns are filled with votes.' Mehdi Shahbazi, the brother of the bereaved Ameneh Shahbazi, one of the victims of the November 2019 protests in Marlik Fardis, emphasized, 'It is not worthy of the dignity of a human being to become an instrument of a military regime that wants to claim legitimacy based on people's participation in a fake election and in fact, appointments.' Saba Bakhtiari, the aunt of the bereaved Pouya Bakhtiari, one of the victims of the November 2019 protests in Mehrshahr, stated, 'We consider Friday, March 2, as a day for families, and for solidarity and saying no to the Islamic Republic, we will stay home. Neither green nor purple! To pay our respects to the blood of our children, we will stay home and witness the last breaths of the regime.' Amirhossein Mir-Asmaeili, a journalist, also referred to the past actions of representatives in the lead-up to the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections, stating, 'Reminder; on November 15 last year, all members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly called for the execution and retribution of protesting citizens and labeled innocent Iranian youth as 'mohareb' (enemy of God). In addition to the online opposition, protests against the 'performative' elections are also taking place in the streets of Iran. According to a citizen's video, protesters have protested by splashing red paint on the campaign banners of election candidates.