Voting in a parliamentary election this week is "a religious duty" for Iranians, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday, days before the vote seen as a referendum on the clerical establishment's popularity.
Iran's hardline Guardian Council vetting body has rejected some 6,850 moderate or conservative hopefuls in favor of hardliners from among the 14,000 applicants seeking to contest the Feb. 21 vote. About a third of lawmakers have also been barred from standing again.
"Today, voting is not only a revolutionary and national responsibility, but it is also a religious duty," Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television.