Finally, after nearly ten days, Iran’s Guardian Council, whose members are appointed by the Supreme Leader of the regime, Ali Khamenei, announced the final list of candidates approved by the council for the June 18 Presidential election. Almost no one is on the list except Ebrahim Raisi, Khamenei’s preferred candidate for the June 2021 election.

Except for Raisi, the other candidates are basically out of the question, and some may step aside in favor of Raisi. The Guardian Council, to say that it has a list, has declared these people as candidates around the Raisi, the infamous 1988 massacre perpetrator.

What is essential for us is the removal of Ali Larijani and Eshaq Jahangiri, who has been in the role of Hassan Rouhani‘s first deputy in running the country for eight years. Larijani, who was the speaker of Khamenei’s parliament for 12 years, was one of Khamenei’s most obedient members. He is currently serving as one of Khamenei’s top advisers.

The Iranian resistance previously denounced the upcoming poll as a sham election. Khamenei intended to consolidate his regime and shrink as much as possible through severe repression inside Iran and the spread of terrorism abroad.

The removal of these accomplices in the regime’s 42-year-old crimes reveals a few simple facts:

1. The polarization of elections has become a red line for Khamenei. He is not able to face a competitive election and its consequences.

2. Khamenei is serious about his policy of shrinking and unifying his government.

3. Khamenei has become so weak that it is unlikely that he would be able to have his preferred candidate win the election with the arrival of Larijani or Jahangiri.

4. For Khamenei, the red line of the uprising is the most severe red line. The uprising arranges everything. Because with the formation of a competitive election, there was a possibility of a split and movement of the people.

5. Khamenei correctly recognized that if he eliminated Larijani, he would receive a serious blow, but it would be a double blow if he did not remove him.

6. It turned out that Khamenei could not maneuver in this election sham.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), stated in this regard: “Purging presidential candidates is a step to consolidate the regime and maximize repression, a clear sign of the overthrow crisis of the religious, terrorist dictatorship. Ebrahim Raisi, the 1988 Massacre henchman, one of the worst criminals against humanity, will be the regime’s next president”. 

Mrs. Rajavi added: “Once again, I call on the Iranian people to boycott of the election farce and urge them to protest and rise up against Khamenei’s maneuver, which clearly amounts to usurping their sovereignty”. “Today, there is no longer any excuse to appease and engage with this regime. Any interaction & cooperation with the mullahs will be in service of the regime’s repression and killing of the Iranian people, its nuclear ambitions, and fueling wars in the region”.