TEHRAN, Iran — Opinion polls show Reformists and moderates have the upper hand ahead of Iran’s key upcoming parliament and Assembly of Experts elections. This has caused serious apprehension among hard-liners about a possible landslide victory for supporters of President Hassan Rouhani. To avoid such an outcome, hard-liners have brought into play a scheme that few could have imagined: getting people to abstain from taking part in the elections and making them doubt the results.

In a speech that signals the anxiety of the hard-liners, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, head of the main Principlist ticket for the parliamentary elections, said, “During the previous elections, [foreign] satellite TV channels [opposed to the Islamic Republic] used to constantly urge people not to participate in the elections; however, now they are instructing people to cast their votes and have even introduced their preferred candidates.” Moreover, Mehdi Chamran, the conservative chairman of Tehran City Council, said, “Instead of boycotting the elections, the enemies are telling people which candidates they [should] cast their votes for and whom to leave out."

In this vein, the Iranian state broadcaster, which is controlled by hard-liners, has made an unexpected move. It usually always urges people to participate in polls and depicts society as fully willing to cast ballots in the Islamic Republic’s election — even though there is always a minor portion that prefers not to take part in elections. However, Iranian state TV now has begun airing interviews with people who say they don’t want to vote for anyone because their votes won’t count.

What the hard-liners are doing is in full contradiction with what Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to do in the elections. Indeed, on Jan. 4, Ayatollah Khamenei, in a meeting with Friday prayer leaders, said, “It is very important that the turnout in the election should be high; the extensive presence of people in the elections makes the country stronger.”