NCRI

Rouhani’s Conference: Clear Sign of Iran Regime’s Deadlock Before Elections

Mohammad Sadat Khansari
Fearing new series of popular protests, Rouhani begged people to participate at the regime's parliamentary election farce
Fearing new series of popular protests, Rouhani begged people to participate at the regime’s parliamentary election farce

The press briefing on Sunday, February 16 by the Iranian regime’s president, Hassan Rouhani, in which he discussed different critical issues purely demonstrated the regime’s deadlock.  

Following the nationwide Iran protests in November and January, during which the Iranian people demonstrated their desire for regime change, the authorities are afraid of a national boycott of the elections. Rouhani and other officials’ main goal in holding press conferences and interviews are to beg people to participate in the elections.  

Therefore, Rouhani retraced his steps on some of the criticism he had made earlier during their infightings with other ruling factions in the regime. 

Rouhani and Elections 

Previously, in reaction to the massive purge of his faction’s candidates by the Guardian Council at the behest of the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Rouhani had criticized the Guardian Council and had described the parliamentary elections as “selections.” 

On Sunday, Rouhani said: “I never have and never will question the elections. The elections are an important issue for our country… If it were selections, there would be no need for insisting and begging [for participation]. The selection was a reference to before the revolution… What I wanted to say is that we don’t allow the elections to become selections, not that it is like that right now.” 

Rouhani even went further by asking people to choose among those who go through the strict filters of the Guardian Council, saying: “There are three options: Choosing the best, choosing from limited candidates, and not taking part. If we can’t make the best choice, should we also avoid choosing from limited candidates? This would be to our own detriment.” 

Rouhani also took a step back on criticizing the uncompetitive nature of the elections. A previous estimate, first published by media outlets close to Rouhani’s faction, had stated that there will be no competition in 70 districts because the candidates are all from the same ruling faction. In his Sunday press conference, however, Rouhani said that there are now only 44 districts where there’s no competition. “There will be a competition in most districts, and the people will show up… even if there wasn’t any competition, I still believe the people should show up. We are all Iranians and we love the revolution and our country.” 

Engulfed by domestic and international crisis, the regime needs the turnout as a green light to continue its destructive policies inside Iran and across the world. 

Rouhani still declined to give information about the November protests’ death tally. 

When asked about the number of people killed during the Iran protests in November, Rouhani showed his fear of admitting to the crimes of his regime, mostly the slaughter of innocent protesters. According to reports obtained by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), security forces killed over 1,500 protesters. This figure was later confirmed by other media and widely reported. 

Rouhani, like other officials of the regime, tried to minimize the number of killing, claiming that the numbers were misreported and widely exaggerated. He also refrained from giving the so-called “real figure.” 

“The number of casualties is in the possession of the coroner. If the coroner’s office knows all the aspects, which they probably know by now, then they will be able to declare the figures. But the figure that we are aware of is much smaller than what has been reported by the media,” Rouhani said. 

Rouhani’s remarks once again confirm the Iranian regime’s utter fear of the possibility of people’s outrage to erupt if the regime confirms its crimes during the Iran protests.  

The downing of the Ukrainian passenger jet  

When asked about the Ukrainian airliner downed by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on January 8, Rouhani tried to downplay and justify the regime’s three consecutive days of lies about the crash being due to a technical failure. He also downplayed the IRGC’s crime, describing it as “human error.” 

“[The lies were] not intentional and did not mean to damage the people’s trust,” Rouhani said. “The same armed forces who have brought much honor and achievements for us in the past stepped forth and assumed responsibility for the incident and apologized to the people. I admire the way the IRGC handled this.” 

Shortly after the government admitted that the plane was shot down by the armed forces, thousands of people across Iran, mostly students, poured onto the streets and called for regime change. 

In a nutshell, Rouhani’s conference was a failed attempt to portray the situation as calm and normal, before the elections and show the regime has full control over this situation.  

 But as Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said on the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution: “The Iranian people have cast their real vote during the November 2019 and January 2020 uprisings. This vote is summarized in the slogans of ‘down with the principle of velayat-e faqih,’ ‘death to Khamenei,’ and ‘death to Rouhani.’ And on this basis, the people will boycott the mullahs’ illegitimate parliamentary election more than ever before.” 

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