US: Elections in Iran are not 'free and fair', the world knows that Iran's political system is 'undemocratic and opaque'

Mito Miller, spokesperson for the US State Department, stated on Thursday, March 1, to a reporter from the Persian section of Voice of America that elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran are not 'free and fair'. Mr. Miller, during the daily press conference in response to Farhad Poladi's question about the expectations and assessments of the US State Department regarding the parliamentary elections scheduled for Friday, March 2, said he does not expect the elections to be 'free and fair' and believes that many people in Iran do not expect those elections to be free and fair either. He further noted: 'As you probably know, thousands of candidates have previously been disqualified in a non-transparent process, and the world has long known that Iran's political system has an undemocratic and opaque executive, judicial, and electoral system.' At the same time, several groups and organizations inside Iran, as well as political groups outside Iran that seek to overthrow the Islamic Republic, have strongly called for a boycott of the elections. Additionally, in the latest report by 'Freedom House', the Iranian government has been identified as one of the violators of freedom in the past year, and Iran continues to be recognized as a 'non-free' country in terms of freedom index. According to the recent 'Freedom House' report, the occurrence of 'election fraud' is among the factors violating freedom in Iran, and Iran is listed as one of the countries that has fallen to the bottom of the freedom index over the past decade. The report states that key factors such as 'manipulation of elections', 'war', and 'attacks against pluralism' have played a significant role in the decline of freedoms. Following the controversial presidential elections in Iran in 2009, millions marched in protest with the central slogan 'Where is my vote?' and protesters emphasized the occurrence of 'widespread fraud' in these elections. These widespread protests were met with violent repression by the government. The latest poll by the Gaman Institute indicates a maximum participation rate of 30% in the elections; explanation by Ammar Maleki from 'no vote' to 'election circus'; widespread negative reactions to the 2024 elections; the campaign to boycott the 'election circus' is spreading; users: we will stay at home and witness the last breaths of the regime; Jason Bradski to Voice of America: elections in the Islamic Republic are a show that Khamenei writes the end of; political prisoner Zeynab Jalalian: stay home for one day and do not participate in the sham elections.