Chairman of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi lashed out at recent moves by foreign parties to influence the upcoming elections due to be held in Iran on Friday, and called on President Hassan Rouhani’s administration to respond appropriately.
British Broadcasting Corporation recently encouraged Iranian not to vote for certain candidates in the Assembly of Experts elections, which will be held on February 26.
In reaction, Firouzabadi described the move as being similar to a military interference, and noted that meddling in an independent country’s elections is a “horrible aggression”, Tasnim News Agency reported.
“The country’s foreign policy officials should strongly react to the issue, and protest at the governments of the US and Britain.” The general noted that it is a shameless insult to the Iranian nation and violates the country’s independence and national sovereignty, urging the government not to underestimate it.
The remarks came as President Rouhani had earlier in the day stressed that the Iranian nation knows how to vote and ruled out any advice by foreign parties on the upcoming elections.
“The country’s elections belong to the people,” Rouhani said in an address to a gathering of Iranian laborers in Tehran.
“We do not need the advice of any non-Iranian [side], because our nation is vigilant and conscious, and well aware of its interests.”
