Feb 27, 2017

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech to election officials that he wants to ensure a smooth presidential election in May and warned off any potential government groups that might attempt to rig the vote in their favor.

“We all have to be careful that government resources are not used in favor of one individual or party,” Rouhani told the officials Feb. 25. “This is a sin. By government, I mean the executive, the judiciary, the armed forces. I mean all the organizations that use public funds. No one has a right to use a public platform, public media, newspaper or website that uses public funds in the election.”

Rouhani told the audience that it is the responsibility of the Interior Ministry and provincial governors to administer a healthy election. With regard to the Guardian Council, the conservative body that vets candidates for approval to run in the election, Rouhani said, “I cannot accept anyone saying that the responsible group [for administering the election] is the Guardian Council. No. The administration is responsible. The Guardian Council supervises.” This point about who ultimately controls the election process has been a long-running dispute between Rouhani and Guardian Council head Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati.

With regard to interference in the election from other bodies in the government, Rouhani said, “We have to take a stand if someone commits a violation, if someone uses public funds, a military force, a security force, an armed force. We have to say something, we have to stand up.” This final comment received applause from the audience members.

While Rouhani did not make any specific allegation, there were accusations that the 2009 presidential election was rigged and that conservative figures close to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had manipulated the ballot box to secure his re-election against the Reformist candidates. That election led to protests, hundreds of arrests and dozens of deaths and created a crisis that conservative officials fear could resurface at any moment.