Iranian principlists' largest gathering held

TEHRAN,Nov. 19 (MNA) – The first session of the United Front of Principlists (UFP) was held on Thursday in the presence of some senior principlists as well as the secretary generals of principlist associations or parties. The gathering, which was aimed at coordinating efforts among principlists in the run-up to the March parliamentary elections, was held in the Shahid Mottahari School near Baharestan Square with the motto of “wisdom and unity under the umbrella of velayat (rule of the supreme jurisprudent).” Assembly of Experts chairman and Society of Combatant Clergy chief Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani; chairman of the election office of principlists Ali Reza Zakani; Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Ahmad Alam al-Hoda; and UFP spokesman Ali Akbar Velayati addressed the 10,000-strong gathering. Zakani said the UFP was established through the efforts of Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani and Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi (a senior member of the Assembly of Experts) and the backing of the Society of Combatant Clergy and the Association of Qom Seminary Teachers. The UFP seeks a massive participation of people in the parliamentary elections and unity among different principlist groups so that it can emerge victorious in the polls, Zakani told the participants. He said in order to realize the goals of the Islamic Revolution, administer justice, and “achieve progress in a short time” all should make effort that principlists win the elections.