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Khamenei increases pressure on Rouhani ahead of elections

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's criticism of a UNESCO program promoting gender equality is seen as an attack on President Hassan Rouhani.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani waves as he stands next to a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after he registered for February's election of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that chooses the supreme leader, at Interior Ministry in Tehran December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY     - RTX1ZKHQ

Two weeks ahead of the Iranian presidential election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has increased his criticisms of the policies endorsed by President Hassan Rouhani. A week after indirectly criticizing the president for suggesting that diplomacy had averted war, Khamenei criticized a United Nations education program that some conservative Iranian detractors say promotes gender equality.

“These are not things the Islamic Republic can carry on its shoulders and submit to them,” Khamenei said of Education 2030, which is a part of UNESCO's program to wipe out poverty through development. The program, which Iran endorsed in 2015, aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

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