Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, is encouraging freer and fairer elections in Iran, suggesting that next month's parliamentary elections should allow moderate and reformist political factions to run.
The president's speech came as a response to Iran's constitutional watchdog, which has prevented large numbers of moderates and reformists from running in the elections.
Rouhani affirmed that "the Parliament is the house of the people, not a particular faction."
President Rouhani went on to say that although religious and other minorities each have four members in parliament, larger groups should also be represented. The combined populations of minorities in Iran, which include Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, amount to less than 500,000 people.
Rouhani posed the question, "what about a faction that has up to 10 million supporters", a reference to the estimated number of supporters of moderates and reformists.
