TEHRAN, 5 June 2005 — Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians yesterday to participate en masse in June 17 presidential polls to “defeat” Iran’s foreign foes, asserting the Islamic republic was a true democracy. “I advise all brothers and sisters to keep the election warm and healthy,” he said to thousands gathered to pay homage to revolutionary leader and founder of Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini on the 16th anniversary of his death.
“It is a person’s divine right and duty to determine their fate,” he said while hitting out at the foreign media for “downplaying the election”. “I know the nation will defeat the enemy in this crucial ordeal,” he said referring to the United States, adding the elections would define the position of Islamic republic in the world.
He said Khomeini had bequeathed an elected Islamic government to Iran and the world. “In our country officials are elected by people’s direct or indirect vote, nobody is appointed,” he said.
However, six of the members of the 12-person hard-line Guardians Council which vets legislation and candidates for public office are appointed by the supreme leader, who also names the heads of judiciary and state television. Voter turnout in the polls will be closely watched - with the figure seen as a measure of precisely how popular the much-maligned 26-year-old theocracy actually is.
Khamenei, speaking at Khomeini’s shrine south of Tehran where hundreds of thousands of people had congregated, urged people to avoid smearing candidates and choose someone who would think of their future, improve their lives and use his “many powers and resources” to take the country forward.
Pointing to changes in the Middle East in the past years, Khamenei said the presence of US forces around Iran was no threat for Iran and instead was a sign that “Muslims have become so strong in the region that the US is scared and in a passive position”.
“Even if the Americans had not attacked Iraq, Muslim Iraqis would have eventually toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime,” Khamenei said. Campaigning for the election is under way, with top pragmatic conservative cleric and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani seen as leading the eight regime-approve candidates.
Facing him are four hardliners: Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Ali Larijani, Mahmud Ahmadi Nejad and Mohsen Rezai - all veterans of the hard-line Revolutionary Guards, and three from the embattled reformist camp. The election will mark the end of the mandate of embattled reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami.
Meanwhile, Iran is still considering an offer by Europe for a two-month delay in negotiations over its atomic program, an Iranian nuclear negotiator said yesterday, dismissing reports that Tehran had rejected the proposal. “We are in the process of examining the European proposal, to hear the latest things that the Europeans have to say to us, and we will give a response next week,” Ali Agha Mohammadi told AFP.
European diplomats had said on Friday that Iran wanted the talks aimed at guaranteeing its nuclear program is peaceful to resume soon, with a major meeting within one month. Iran had agreed last month to resume talks in August, after its presidential elections on June 17 and after the EU comes up with concrete proposals at the end of July on cooperation with Tehran over its nuclear program. An EU diplomat said Iran however had on Thursday notified ambassadors in Tehran that this calendar was not acceptable, adding that “this was really a big surprise”.
