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In a meeting on Thursday evening, President of the Association of Priests of Iran, Ardeshir Khorshidian; Armenian Caliphate Council of Tehran and Northern Iran, Reverend Gregory Nersesian; Religious Leader of the Kelimians of Iran, Younes Hamami Lalehzar; and Patriarch of Assyrian Church of the East and Head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Tehran, Reverend Wanya Sarkis emphasized the need for the participation of the Iranian nation in the upcoming presidential elections.

duty for independence and progress.

Hammami Lalehzar, for his part, stated that the enemies of Iran, seek to harm our country, so we must highly protect it and stand by each other in this way.

Rev. Wania Sarkis pointing to the foreign media attempts discouraging the citizens to cast a vote in presidential elections, said that we are the ones who live in Iran. God has given us the wisdom and logic to build our country, that is why we should all participate in the elections and cast our ballots in order to have a powerful president.

Khorshidian also noted that “we, representatives of all religious minorities and monotheists gathered here to announce that it is our duty to all of us to participate in the presidential elections so that the next president can work on the country’s development. It is our national responsibility to invite all Zoroastrians and followers of other religious minorities to participate in the elections alongside the people of Iran.”

At the conclusion of the seminar, the participants issued a statement calling on the followers of religious minorities and all the Iranian people to participate widely in the presidential elections to elect the worthiest person for the presidency to contribute to building Iran’s prosperity and bright future.

The presidential election will be held on June 18, with seven candidates. It will be the thirteenth presidential election in Iran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, said in May “the scene of elections is a place for competition to serve the people.”

People would participate in the elections in large numbers because competent and highly capable managers have entered the election race to resolve the people’s economic problems, he added.

“Obviously, the enemies are opposed to our elections. Since the first day and for many years now, they have been opposed to them. Up until today, they have always focused on discouraging the people from participating in the elections by saying that the elections may be rigged and that there may be cheating.

They propagandize against the people’s participation in elections. Later, when the people do participate and there is an enthusiastic turnout in the elections, they say that the elections have obviously been ‘engineered’ and that it was clear beforehand who would be the winner.”

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The research conducted by ISPA had two parts. In the first part, the institute published the response to the question: “Who are you voting for?” And in the second part, it put Raeisi against different candidates, such as Ali Larijani, Es’haq Jahangiri, and Masoud Pezeshkian.

The first part of the research showed that Reaisi is ahead in the polls by a wide margin.

According to the study, Raeisi has 36.7% of the votes, with Larijani behind him with 3.5%.

Others are ranked as follows: Mohsen Rezaei 2.8%, Masoud Pezeshkian 2.1%, Es’haq Jahangiri 1.6% and Saeed Jalili 0.9%.

In the second part of the poll, Raeisi is put against Larijani, and the results are as follows:

Raeisi: 55.3%

Larijani: 7.9%

Neither: 14.3%

No response: 22.5%

Fars predicts Raeisi leads Ahmadinejad as runner up

Also, according to a report published by the Fars News Agency on Thursday, Raeisi enjoys 32.6% of the votes, with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad behind him with 26.7% of the votes.

The report states that 42% of the people eligible to vote will participate in the elections.

It also says that 21% of the eligible voters will not participate due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It also asked participants who will they vote for if Ahmadinejad withdraws candidacy or is disqualified by the Guardian Council in which 10% said they will vote for Raeisi, 1.5% for Rezaei, 1.3% for Larijani, and 3.3% were undecided.

According to the report, Saeed Mohammad has 3.6% of the votes.

The report also says that 32% of eligible voters will not participate due to economic hardship.

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The registration process started at 8:00 a.m. local time at the headquarters of the Interior Ministry in Tehran, with the presidential hopefuls having until Saturday to turn up at the venue and hand in their credentials.

When the registrations are over, the documents will be delivered to the Constitutional Council, which is in charge of examining the credentials and deciding, based on constitutional requirements, which hopefuls are competent enough to run for president.

The vetting body will release a final list of approved presidential candidates on May 26-27, ending weeks of speculation about who will and will not cross the threshold.

The election campaigns are expected to begin shortly after that list is out.

Usually, campaigning includes such in-person activities as rallies, stump speeches, and meetings with supporters. This year, however, all campaigning will need to be in line with public health protocols amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

Many prospective candidates have already made their bids official, while others have only signaled their intention to run.

Closely tracking the election-related developments over the past weeks, many media outlets have turned the spotlight on the unprecedented number of hopefuls seeking to join the race.

The issue of individuals with military backgrounds running for president has become the subject of a heated debate inside the country, after the Constitutional Council offered a new interpretation of the law governing the required qualifications of presidential candidates.

Previously, military men were required to step down from their post so they could run for the civilian office. The latest updates, however, dropped that condition and cleared the way for senior military officials to join the presidential race.

Second Brigadier General Saeed Mohammad, a former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps’ Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters, yesterday registered as a presidential hopeful.

Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan was the second prominent military figure who registered in the first day. Registration process will continue until Friday afternoon.

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“The JCPOA was an agreement between Iran and the P5+1 that, despite the many problems of the deal, was legally signed between Iran and its member states and was approved by the United Nations Security Council and the Iranian Parliament, which we respect,” he said.

Mohammad stated that the Iranian nation have faced many problems over the last few years because the United States left the deal unilaterally, and now the Islamic Republic has set two conditions for Washington’s return to the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“The first condition is for the United States must return to the deal and it be observed by other countries; and the second condition is that we must verify these measures. And if the other side commits (to its obligations), we will (also) remain committed to the JCPOA. We are waiting for the results of the Vienna talks, which should take place within the framework drawn by the Leader,” he remarked.

The former IRGC official said, “Instead of putting all the eggs in the basket of the imperialist governments, we will look to the West and the East so that we can face any negotiation with a full hand,” emphasizing that he seeks to strike a balance in relations with the West and the East.

The former director of the Khatam Al Anbiya Construction Headquarters said that the imperialist system has affected the countries of the region.

He noted that, “We are on a ship in which the United States and other countries are abusing the countries of the region.”

He stressed that Libya and Iraq have given their oil reserves to the imperialist countries and ISIS is a product of these imperialist countries.

“We must join hands to recognize the danger of imperialism and rely on each other to complete the security of the region. Imperialism says that Saudi Arabia is a milk cow and once its milk is gone, we will behead it,” Mohammad said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the presidential candidate said Iran has neglected trade and commercial sector, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has focused too much on the JCPOA.

On his administration’s foreign policy, he said, “We must establish economic relations with the countries of the region.”

Mohammad went on to say that he believes that when the West and the imperialists do not fulfill their obligations, why should Iran fulfill its obligations like “a good kid in the class?”

Criticizing the current administration’s nuclear policy in regard to the West, he said, “Iran has fulfilled its commitments, accepted rigorous visits, poured cement on nuclear sites, and the other side has flipped the table, and we are still running after it,” he said, criticizing the current administration’s approach.

He noted that the Europeans played a “good cop bad cop” policy with Iran in regard to the JCPOA.

“We are a committed country and when we make a commitment, we will act on it. In this situation, they were looking for FATF and CFT, and they say that if these are not implemented, we will be miserable.”

Mohammad began to question the current administration’s diplomatic approach, asking, “If this situation continues, should we still fulfill our obligations? We need radiopharmaceuticals but we cannot access them. What is the reason when we need radiopharmaceuticals and it requires 93% uranium; we do not do it despite their non-commitment? We must do our work for peaceful purposes.”

He underlined that Iran is not after a nuclear bomb “and no one in our country is looking for it, but we are looking for it (93% enriched uranium) in the form of peaceful uses.”

The presidential nominee said after forty years, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution permitted the administration to negotiate with the United States, “but now this negotiation is no longer relevant, because we negotiated for 8 (12) years and it did not work. We are not satisfied with the JCPOA, which was abandoned unilaterally, but if this is implemented, we will move on to the next negotiations. Our people suffered a lot from the deal, and the wall of distrust created by the U.S. If the people’s economic problems are solved, we will decide to negotiate later.”

The presidential elections will be held on June 18. Registrations will open on May 11 and will continue for 5 days.

Many political figures such as Rostam Ghasemi, former Minister of Petroleum; and Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Expediency Council have so far declared candidacy.

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The elections have been postponed due to FIFA’s objections over the FFIRI statutes several times.

FFIRI was involved in a long process with the world governing body over alleged government interference.

FIFA demanded changes to the FFIRI statutes more than a year ago and rejected amended documents submitted on several occasions. Finally, it was in the last month that FIFA approved the football federation’s statutes.

Iran, a nation of largely football-mad people, is not where it should be because the basic needs have not been met over the past decades.

While football is the most coveted sport in Iran and could generate income, the infrastructures have not yet been equipped after many years.

For example, the Iranian football officials have previously said over and over again they would use Video Assistant Referee (VAR) at the stadiums. We see so many Iranian teams protest the decisions and say refereeing decisions have gone against them because there is no VAR to prove that they are right or not.

Iran football has shown in recent years how powerful it is, since, for instance, football club Persepolis has qualified for the AFC Champions League final twice in three years. It means the country has a great potential to grow and become more competitive, but it depends on who is leading the football.

Based on the FFIRI’s electoral commission’s announcement, Ali Karimi, Mostafa Ajorloo, Shahabeddin Azizi Khadem, and Kiumars Hashemi will vie for the presidency.

Karimi, the legendary Iranian footballer, who has played in Iran’s national football team more than 100 times, has been welcomed by the Iranian football family. However, experience has shown that the most deserved people sometimes could not win the elections.

The three other candidates have previously worked in Iran football but a real change is needed for Iranian football. Maybe, Karimi, as a former player of Bayern Munich, can make change our football.

Iran football needs a renaissance, whether Karimi wins the elections or not.

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