TEHRAN – Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami has underlined the need for higher voter turnout in the Iran June election, saying such a thing will strengthen national security.

Hatami said the enemies are striving to discourage the people and dissuade them from casting votes.

The defense minister stated that the enemy is trying to break the resistance of the Iranian nation and ultimately remove the Islamic Republic from the region. “The imperial system seeks to destroy the social cohesion and strength of the people by negatively and inverted propaganda against the precious achievements of the Islamic Republic; because they know that Iran today is a strong Iran and the source of great changes in the region and internationally,” Hatami pointed out.

“The first goal of the enemies of the Iranian nation is to discourage the people, to stagnate the elections and to try to minimize the turnout in the upcoming elections, but their ultimate goal is to destroy the national interests of the Islamic Republic and push the country back from its position of authority,” the defense minister said, according to state news agency IRNA.

Referring to the glorious holding of the Syrian presidential election and congratulating the victory and re-election of Bashar al-Assad with a decisive vote of the Syrian people, Hatami said, “Undoubtedly, this event and the historical epic of the Syrian people symbolize the will of the Syrian people to maintain independence in the face of the greed and intrigues of the enemies of the Islamic Ummah.”

He added, “The most important issue that guarantees national interests and security of the country and the future of the people is maximum presence and participation in the elections, and God willing, this epic will turn the conspiracy of global arrogance against them on June 18.”

Hatami also pointed to the victory of Palestinian resistance groups against Israel and lauded the missile capabilities of these groups.

“The most important achievement of this victorious jihad was the unity and empathy of all Palestinians in the various parts of occupied territories against the criminal Zionist regime and its Western and American supporters,” the defense minister said, adding, “As the wise Leader of the Revolution said, ‘the Zionist regime will not see the next 25 years,' and from now on missiles, drones and the defense capabilities of the owners of Palestine will be the nightmare of the usurpers.”

The remarks came a day after several senior Iranian military officials expressed support for the Palestinian resistance groups.

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) General Hossein Salami said the Palestinians emerged stronger from the war and they will get stronger by the day. “A new Palestine has emerged, and the recent war imposed a strong Palestine on the calculations of the Zionist entity [Israel] from now on. The Palestinians will become stronger day by day, and the Israelis must realize that they cannot live in the midst of an enemy that has become so powerful,” General Salami told Russian state broadcaster RT. 

The IRGC Quds Force Commander, General Esmail Qaani, also issued a stark warning to Israel, underlining that Israel should think of an imminent delivery of rule over the Occupied Lands to the Palestinians.
“I advise the Zionists to return to their houses that they have sold in Europe and America before these houses become more expensive,” Qaani said, according to Fars News.

“Many of the infrastructural facilities were within the reach of Palestinian missiles and could be targeted… but, they [Resistance groups] refused to target them because it will not take long for Palestinians to use these facilities,” the Quds force chief predicted.

According to Qaani, during the first three days of the Gaza war, the number of the missiles fired by the Resistance Front at the Occupied Territories was as much as the entire 22-day war which indicates the power of Resistance.

“We all witnessed how Gaza bravely defended all Palestinian lands, despite being under sanctions for 15 years,” the general said, adding, “The Palestinian Resistance acted in such a way that from the first day, the Zionist regime begged its friendly countries to call on the Palestinians to stop the war.”

“The era when the Zionist regime wanted to kill the Palestinians with weapons, bullets and guns has gone. Today, more than 3,000 missiles fired at the occupied territories were produced by the Palestinians themselves,” Qaani underlined.