“In the vetting process some candidates were wronged. They were accused of untrue things that were unfortunately spread against them or their families – who are decent and respected families – but they were later proved to be wrong,” the Leader said in a televised speech on Friday.

“Protecting people’s honour is one of the most important issues. I call on the responsible bodies to restore their honour,” he added.

Shortly after the Leader’s comments, rumours started to spread that the Guardian Council is going to reconsider its decision to disqualify prominent moderate and reformist candidates like Ali Larijani, Es’haq Jahangiri, and Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Guardian Council is reportedly going to convene at 11:30 (UTC) today to discuss Ayatollah Khamenei’s call for compensation. However, the Leader’s Instagram page later republished a post that suggested Ayatollah Khamenei’s criticism is not directed at the Guardian Council, and the comments are not going to change the final list of candidates.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei called Iran’s religious democracy a “divine gift”, but warned of plots by the enemies to undermine it.
“Thank God, after the departure of the Imam, the Iranian nation preserved this divine gift and this religious democracy,” he said.

“The enemies of Iran, who made all kinds of efforts to separate the people and make them lose belief in religious democracy, had their plot thwarted and every time they tried a new way they faced the steel barrier of the Iranian people,” the Leader said.

“It is the same today. The enemies are lying in ambush to drive a wedge between the people and the Islamic system, but they are facing the steel barrier of the Iranian people. They plotted both security and intellectual invasion, all of which failed.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said there are some people inside Iran, who either knowingly or unknowingly repeat the claims of the enemies.

“The idea that democracy does not go hand in hand with religion is also the claim of the enemies.

Of course, some may say this out of negligence. They should know that this is the talk of the enemy and the enemy wants to eradicate Islam… It is a great mistake if we alienate democracy from Islamic thought and spirit.”