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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have said the second round of presidential elections scheduled for Friday is a “referendum” that will determine the fate of Iranians.

In a statement on his official website, Rouhani stressed the need for broad participation in the second round of presidential elections and warned that “the election of a hard-line government will push Iran toward war, sanctions and poverty.”

Participation in the first round of elections fell to 39.99%, making it the lowest rate in Iran’s history.

Some critics of the ruling administration said such a large turnout was “a big no-no for the authorities”, who want a high turnout given a legitimacy crisis sparked by public discontent due to the economic crisis and restrictions on political and social freedoms.

Rouhani said the elections held last Friday “sent a clear and frank message to those who wanted to see and hear it,” noting that more than half of Iranians did not participate, arguing that this was a continuation of Iran’s economic decline. Since the 2021 presidential election, the late President Ibrahim Raisi had no real rivals, with a participation rate of just over 48%.

Rouhani blamed the “design of the elections” and those who implemented them for “not taking responsibility for the people” and attributed the reluctance to vote to “protest against arbitrary support for election qualifications,” without mentioning the Guardian Council, which decides on the qualifications of candidates. He said participants “said no to the media that spread fear and despair… Millions of people listened to the speeches and chose the best, not caring about distorted reports and false claims.”

Rouhani said that “boycotting the elections is like collective suicide and will strengthen the power of extremist factions”, and stressed that “the boycott is not a solution, but a factor in weakening and disintegrating Iran’s power”, and talked about the competition of “domestic politics” between those who call for a boycott and those who are against the boycott. “Between those who support voting to change the situation and those who advocate not voting to change the situation; the intentions of both sides are the same (change), but one side supports participating in the elections, and the other defends boycotting the elections.”

“Either we all drown or we all reach the shore,” Rouhani said. “Iran is our common home and facing the devastating floods, we cannot say we have no responsibility,” he added.

On the “foreign policy” front, Rouhani also said that the competition for the boycott is between supporters and opponents. He said: “We have two candidates, one of whom believes that the boycott in terms of foreign policy and economy is a blessing, while the other believes it is a disaster. One of them believes that severing ties with the world is an opportunity, and the other believes it is a loss of opportunity.”

He continued: “One of their art is to build walls and barriers around Iran, and the other art is to tear down walls and barriers with the help of the best diplomats and experts. One of them is the godfather of UN Security Council resolutions against Iran, who got seven resolutions against Iran in eight years, and the other one, with the help of diplomats and experts, dismantled these international minefields against Iran in eight years.

“One is for war, the other for peace; not only external wars, but also internal wars; when girls, women and youth of Iran are considered as strategic depth (…), it leads to tension and rebellion in the country,” Rouhani said of Jalili.

As for Pezeshkian, he said: “He considers punishment not a blessing but pain and suffering, and he works to cure them.” He added: “He thinks about abolishing sanctions, improving relations, promoting trade and increasing exports, believes in technological exchange and considers Internet bandwidth the main path to development.”

He stressed: “We are facing a fateful Friday, in which it is not the people who accept the referendum, but the elections between two different tendencies, which completely determine the course of the country and Iran’s position in the international community.”

He added: “One of the currents is the search for unity and harmony at home and constructive interaction abroad. He wants Iran to have everything and believes that all Iranians have pride, dignity, wealth and health. But the opposition movement sees only its own group and only knows opposition, not negotiations and honorable agreements, and does not take responsibility for the suffering of the people and the suffering caused by sanctions.”

He concluded: “Dear Iranian people! Today you have two clear choices: participate or boycott, boycott or engage with the world, choose real progress or fantasy regression, choose honorable engagement or international humiliation.

Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who supports Pezeshkian’s candidacy, warned Jalili against the presidency. “If he becomes president, the people who stand in the way of things will actually take over,” he said. “He wants to shrink the internet and block everything.”

“In order to eliminate those who are standing in the way, we must vote for those who do not cooperate with them,” he said. In a related context, Zarif wrote on the “X” platform that next Friday’s vote is a “referendum on the fate of the future.” He added that “Bezeshkian’s opponents are concerned about your participation in this historic referendum. They have played all the political, financial and propaganda roles to continue and tighten the current situation.” “Next Friday is not a good opportunity to take such a dangerous approach,” he said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly rejected calls for referendums on domestic and foreign policy over the past two years, including from Rouhani himself, who proposed putting its openness to the West to a referendum.