Religious Figure Terms Iran Election As Divine Chance For People To Create Political Epic

Orumiyeh, West Azarbaijan Prov, June 15, IRNA – Catholics Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Iran said on Friday that voting in the 11th presidential election is a divine opportunity for all people from different religions to create a political epic. Speaking to IRNA, Bishop Mar Narsai Benjamin welcomed the todayˈs election nationwide in Iran aimed at deciding the countryˈs destiny. Assyrians and other religious minorities in Iran are taking part in the presidential election shoulder to shoulder with their Muslim fellow countrymen, said the bishop. He said the next president is expected to move towards development of the country. Some 51 million Iranians are eligible to take part in the presidential election. The six candidates in Iran’s presidential election are head of the Expediency Council’s Strategic Research Center Hassan Rohani, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and former telecommunications minister Mohammad Gharazi. Former Majlis speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel and former first vice president Mohammad Reza Aref withdrew their candidacies earlier this week./end