President Obama said in a Norwuz greeting released Wednesday that the Iranian regime's selection of a new president last year was in fact an election in which "the Iranian people" were allowed to choose a new leader.
"Last year, you—the Iranian people—made your voice heard when you elected Dr. Hassan Rouhani as your new president." Obama said Rouhani "was elected with your strong support."
Shortly after the regime's selection of Rouhani, the Wall Street Journal's Sohrab Ahmari described the process for subverting democratic choice in Iranian elections:
Iran's presidential campaign season kicked off last month when an unelected body of 12 Islamic jurists disqualified more than 600 candidates. Women were automatically out; so were Iranian Christians, Jews and even Sunni Muslims. The rest, including a former president, were purged for possessing insufficient revolutionary zeal. Eight regime loyalists made it onto the ballots. One emerged victorious on Saturday.
President Obama opened his message with the greeting of "Dorood" to "the Islamic Republic of Iran," using the regime's preferred honorific. Obama concluded his message with "Thank you, and Eid-eh Shoma Mobarak." Obama did not mention the plight of dissidents languishing in Iranian prisons, nor did he call on "the Islamic Republic of Iran" to release the American citizens it is holding hostage or cease being the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world.