Tehran interim Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami called on the congregational prayers to actively take part in the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) elections slated for March 2, IRNA reported.
Referring to the registration of aspirants in upcoming Majlis elections, he said at the second sermon of Tehran Friday Prayers that Iranians are duty-bound to vote in the upcoming elections.
Thanks to the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian nation managed to gain the right to determine its destiny by itself and elect all the officials through referendum, he said.
'That's a great achievement for the Iranians to elect all the officials either directly or indirectly,' he said, noting that the most senior officials such as president and Majlis speaker, even the leader, are chosen through the voting procedure.
Khatami also contended that elections are valuable blessings.
Referring to the efforts to undermine elections, he said that the nation will pay no attention to such things.
The nation has always obeyed the recommendation of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini to be present at the scene and have massive turn out in the elections.
Ayatollah Khatami's remarks regarding the elections come after certain opposition figures have tried to persuade people not to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for March 2. Ayatollah Khatami has referred to them as leaders of the sedition movement or seditionists (the losers of 2009 Presidential Election) who encouraged people to take to the streets and chant anti-government slogans after the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 Presidential Election.
On December 30, 2009, millions of peope took to the streets nationwide to voice their support for the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which was a heavy blow to those who were trying to portray that people had lost their confidence in the Islamic system. That date is being remembered every year as the Epic of 9th of Dey (10th month in the Iranian calendar which coincided with December).
Elsewhere in his remarks on regional developments, Ayatollah Khatami also said that the regional uprising enjoys a fully Islamic nature.
Some argue that it is the US which manages the events, but this is a superficial analysis, Khatami said.
'The US has always tried to suppress the uprisings and curb the Islamic awakening,' the senior cleric noted.
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