Yesterday Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged a large turnout on the upcoming parliamentary elections in what was possibly his final speech before the election in two weeks. The run-up to the election has not been without controversy, however, as the fight between President Hassan Rouhani and Khamenei behind the scenes has spilled into the public.
Khamenei, as he has done before, urged even those who do not favor him to vote out of duty to their country, an odd pitch for a man who has been at the helm of power for three decades. Rouhani, who addressed his cabinet the same day Khamenei made his speech, made just a few comments about the elections but not so subtly warned about the concentration of power. “No one is higher than the law and the people,” Rouhani said. “Let’s not think we are a small group who can guide public opinion and that if we were not here the people would be lost. No, the people know well and they choose well.”
