A senior Iranian cleric on Friday called on the Iranian nation to show a high turnout in the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections due to be held later this month, saying that “enemies are zooming on the country” but the massive participation would make them retreat.

Tehran’s Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani stressed that participation of all people throughout the country in the upcoming elections would foil the enemy’s moves and show them a decisive response.

He referred to people’s high turnout in the elections as one of the factors that can make the enemy retreat from its positions, since “the enemies always monitor” the country’s elections.

In similar remarks back in January, Leader of the Islamic Revolution called on Iranians from all walks of life with every political orientation to take part in the elections, describing people’s involvement in the voting process as a major factor in survival of the Islamic Revolution.

It is necessary for all eligible voters to cast their ballots in the February 26 elections for choosing members of the Assembly of Experts and the Parliament, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on January 9.

“We insist, like the past, that everybody should go to the ballot box, even those who disapprove of the Establishment and the leadership, because the election belongs to the nation, to Iran and to the Islamic Republic Establishment,” Imam Khamenei stressed.

The Assembly of Experts and the parliamentary elections are slated to be held simultaneously on February 26.

There will be 290 seats in the Iranian parliament and 88 in the Assembly of Experts up for grabs.
Members of the assembly are directly elected to office by people for an eight-year term. It holds biannual meetings to appoint a new chairman.