Analyst: Iran’s Islamic Republic Propped Up by Popular Support


Analyst: Iran’s Islamic Republic Propped Up by Popular Support

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A Lebanese political expert said the Islamic Republic enjoys strong popular support, noting that trivial differences on some internal issues would never pose a threat to Iran’s popular establishment.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s establishment is being endorsed and supported by the people of the country… People of Iran support and defend the nature of their Islamic system,” Tallal Etrisi, a Lebanese university professor and Middle East expert, told the Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.

He, however, noted that there might have been opposition to some political or economic issues inside Iran, but argued that those matters could never cause the people to counter the Islamic system.

The Lebanese analyst also praised Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei for his role in leading the country to success, and added, “There is a wise leader in Iran who handles the country’s developments.”

High public turnout in the recent elections in Iran was the latest manifestation of public support for the Islamic establishment.

On June 14, Iran held its 11th presidential election, during which Hassan Rouhani emerged victorious by garnering 50.7 percent of a total of over 36 million ballots counted.

Nearly 50.5 million Iranians were eligible to vote in the presidential election, while the voter turnout in the polls stood at 72.7 percent.

The high turnout of over 70 percent signaled a message for certain western countries, which attempted to downplay the role of people in advance of the presidential election.

Some two weeks after the June 14 election, Ayatollah Khamenei expressed gratitude to the Iranian nation over their high turnout in the polls, saying things proceeded contrary to what enemies had expected.

Addressing a group of Judiciary officials in Tehran on June 26, the Supreme Leader said failure of enemies’ plots and schemes, manifestation of public trust in the Islamic establishment and electoral officials, existence of sustainable security as the main infrastructure of progress and development, law-abidance of other presidential candidates, and the power of the Islamic establishment in defending the nation’s interests were major points regarding the recent presidential poll.

“The enemies and opponents of the Islamic Republic attempted to either prevent the election from being held, or make the nation indifferent toward the poll,” the Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that what happened on the voting day was exactly the opposite of what the enemies had planned, adding that Iran's latest polls indicated that even those who do not support the Islamic establishment trust it.

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