TEHRAN, Feb. 14 (MNA) � Iran�s minister of intelligence has said candidates should avoid spewing hate speech and defamation in order to canvass public vote.


Seyed Mahmoud Alavi who was speaking in a mosque in Malard, Karaj several miles west of Tehran on Sunday ensured that the country and his office had not faced severe security and intelligence threats and infiltrations during few last months; �during the past 36 months, our operatives have discovered and destroyed tens of terrorist circles inside the country before their launching sabotage in Shiraz, Ahvaz, Zahedan, and Mashhad. This feat however could not have been possible without public cooperation and support for our operatives,� he told the people in the mosque.

He then turned to a few election advice which the minister believed was crucial in the success of the upcoming Parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections in February 26. �A high turnout in the election will belie the attempts of the enemies on their attempts to sow discord in the country; such an important event requires a general avoidance by the candidates from hate speech and defamatory remarks meant to canvass more votes from the public. In this venue, all should cherish the ethical values and codes of conduct in the elections,� Alavi asserted.

�Any defamation of candidates would mean defamation of the Guardian Council as well,� added the minister. �All candidates qualified by the Council are generally considered as having the conditions of being elected for representation of the public and should not be target of libels and defamations.�

Alavi told the meeting that the success of intelligence system had been largely due to public�s confidence on the system in accurate reports received by people themselves. �During the last 8 months we had not had any act of sabotage similar to kidnapping a schoolteacher or taking hostage our border patrol, since our operatives, having the public�s keen eyes and ears, had aborted such possible operations on time,� he emphasized.

By Mehr News Agency