September 2, 2012 – Mullah Ali Saeidi, representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC: regime’s legitimacy is not a matter of the people’s vote.
September 18, 2012 – Mohammad Ali Ja’afari, Commander in Chief of IRGC: if reformists stop their extremism, they may participate in elections much like anyone else.
September 18, 2012 – Mullah Ali Saeidi, representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC: presence of IRGC members in the elections and in the parliament is in a way guarding the revolution.
November 29, 2012 – Asgar Oladei, leader of Motalefeh party (merchants affiliated with the regime): I don’t consider Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karoubi, presidential candidates in 2009 elections, as elements of sedition.
December 24, 2012 – Khatami, former president: if all political currents in Iran that operate within the constitution and are coherent with the basis of the regime cannot be active in politics, doubtless we won’t have a desirable election.
December 30, 2012 – Bijan Nobaveh, parliamentarian: a conspiracy greater than the 2009 uprisings is on the way and they it would start from inside the country.
December 30, 2012 – Mullah Tuyserkani, Khamenei’s representative in the Basij Force: enemies wish to see another figure from within the system stand up against the regime in next year’s election so that people will begin having doubts.
December 31, 2012 – Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, speaker of parliament’s National Security Commission, warned of similar events to the protests after the 2009 presidential elections. He stated: protests of 2013 will be the most intricate seditions in Islamic Revolution’s history.
January 8, 2013 – Mullah Ali Saeidi, representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC: IRGC’s inherent responsibility is rational and logical engineering of the elections
January 8, 2013 – Khamenei: don’t constantly say that elections have to be free. In which country are elections freer than Iran? Since the beginning of the revolution we have had 34 elections; which was not a free election? In which countries is the competence of candidates not checked and enforced? Why there is so much emphasis on this issue and why are attempts made to convey to people this image that participation in the elections is useless?
January 9, 2013 – Ahamdinejad’s indirect reply to Khamenei’s representative in the IRGC: anyone who attempts to manage the people, people will manage him.
January 10, 2013 – Hassan Firouzabadi, commander in chief of armed forces staff: engineering of the elections in the armed forces means introducing the indicators of these forces and keeping these indicators safe from any meddling during the elections and safe from the presence of any political groupings.
January 14, 2013 – Brig. Gen Nasser Shabani, an IRGC commander: our presumption is that unrest begins in townships instead of Tehran. It could be that people’s livelihood turns out to be a very effective element and the toilers who are vulnerable participate in future events; however, we do have the experience to confront it.
January 27, 2013 – Security agents went to the offices of Etemad, Bahar, Sharq and Arman daily newspapers and resorted to inspecting these offices. A number of journalists were apprehended.
February 10, 2013 – Ahmadinejad: no one should put himself in place of the people and short-sightedly imagine that he can make decisions for the people It has been said that some are attempting to manage and engineer the elections.
February 11, 2013 – Examples of what constitutes ‘internet crimes’ have become clear in the presidential elections. Among these crimes are inviting people to boycott the elections, forming protest gatherings, sit-ins and strikes, and also insulting presidential candidates
March 4, 2013 – Mohsen Rezaii, former commander of IRGC, becomes a presidential candidate for the third time
March 21, 2013 – Khamenei: the future president should have the positive aspects of the current president, but not the negative ones.
March 24, 2013 – Mullah Ahmad Khatami, member of the Assembly of Experts’ presidential board: this interpretation of Khamenei’s speech that ‘political currents against the system may also have candidates’ is wrong from its very foundation
March 27, 2013 – Ahmadinejad: no one may compare his views to those of the Supreme Leader, since such attempts are neither acceptable to the gracious leader nor the noble nation of Iran.
Glossary of mullahs’ elections
Vali-e faqih: lifelong leader of mullahs who according to article 110 of the constitution has all levers of power: determining the chief policies of the regime; ordering referendums and commander in chief of armed forces. He appoints: members of the Guardian’s Council, the Chief of Judiciary, the Head of radio and television, the Chief of Joint Command, the Commander of the IRGC, the Supreme Commanders of the military and security; approves the president or disposes him; etc.
Guardian’s Council: six mullahs appointed by Khamenei to determine who may run in elections and who is omitted.
Engineering of elections: buying votes, keeping away opposition or independent supervisors from the polls, manipulation of outcome of votes.
Reverse-engineering elections: attacking opponents’ candidates and keeping them from becoming candidates.
Ballot collection chamber: this a room in the Ministry of Interior where upon orders from Khamenei, votes are manipulated in favor of the candidate who must be elected.
Hadian-e Sepah (IRGC’s Guiders): a 12,000-man unit of Revolutionary Guards and Basij tasked to produce votes in favor of Supreme Leader’s candidate.
Fetneh (Sedition): uprisings after the 2009 election.
Fetneh-e Jadid (New sedition): possible uprisings in forthcoming elections.
Deviant current: present President Ahmadinejad and his colleagues.
Reformist: the defeated wing of the regime (elements responsible for the eight-year war and massacre of political prisoners).
Fundamentalist: bands affiliated with Khamenei.
