Sir, – I refer to your editorial “The Irish Times view on the elections in Iran: a largely meaningless exercise” (March 5th).
I would like to state that peace, stability, development, economic prosperity and friendship in the modern world can be achieved by the dissemination of correct and fact-based information not misinformation or disinformation.
It is a fact that the percentage of people voting in elections can fluctuate and the voter turnout can be affected by a number of issues.
In Iran these reasons range, among many other reasons, from economic hardships brought on by the unilateral sanctions of the United States, which have an enormous impact on the daily lives of ordinary Iranians, to anti-Iranian media and external influences, to voter apathy (which occurs in every country).
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In 2017 the turnout was higher and the BBC reported that the electorate had been pressured to vote!
Therefore, as someone who deals with archives and history, I do not consider such concern to be a reflection of reality, but rather an attempt encourage enmity toward Iran by presenting false information.
Many long-standing politicians, close to Iran’s high-ranking officials lost their seats. There are a number of young, emerging politicians who won their seats. Electoral procedures are based on law, and a second round of voting is completely normal if the quota is not reached.
Finally, Iran’s government is engaging with its people to increase the strength of civil society and participation in civic society. The future and today’s world needs reality, multilateralism, negotiation, acceptance of diversity, real human rights governance, dialogue, understanding and mutual respect. – Yours, etc,
KAZEM SHARIF KAZEMI,
Chargé d’Affaires,
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.