Iran TV censors Rouhani documentary ahead of elections

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s state TV Saturday censored a documentary released by President Hassan Rouhani’s campaign, ahead of the upcoming presidential election.

A report by the semi-official ILNA did not elaborate but a Rouhani campaign official confirmed to The Associated Press that state TV had cut parts of “President Rouhani”.

He said one censored segment showed supporters chanting for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been under house-arrest since 2011 and whose Green Movement hard-liners oppose. Also omitted was a picture of former President Mohammad Khatami, whose name and image have been banned in Iranian media since 2015.

He said state TV also cut out a remark by a student in which he said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenea supported the 2015 landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

The documentary was a collection of Rouhani’s past speeches, on various issues, during his visits to various provinces.

State TV did not immediately provide any comment.

Earlier this week Khatami announced his support for Rouhani, and Mousavi is also considered a Rouhani supporter.

The moderate Rouhani, who vowed to lift Mousavi’s house arrest in his 2013 campaign, is running in the May 19 election against five other candidates. That promise remains to be fulfilled.

In a separate report, the official IRNA news agency published the results of a Monday survey in which nearly 64 per cent of a 6,047 person sample group said they will be voting, while 20 per cent said they were undecided.

It added that some 55 per cent had already decided on their candidates; 45 per cent said they support the moderate-reformist camp, while more that 23 per cent supported the conservative hard-liner groups.

Additionally, the survey asked where they would seek guidance for their vote; some 50 per cent said they would decide for themselves, 16 per cent said they would follow the lead of friends and relatives in making their decision, 14 per cent said they would refer to clerics, 13 per cent to political groups, six per cent to university students and academics, and 1.3 per cent said they would emulate artists and athletes.

Rouhani won the 2013 presidential election with nearly 51 per cent of 37 million votes in a 73 per cent turnout. There are some 55 million eligible voters in the upcoming election.