Ceremony held to honor Haddad-Adel

TEHRAN,July 14(MNA) – A ceremony was held in Tehran on Saturday to honor principlist MP Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, who was approved by the Guardian Council to run for president in the June 14 election but later dropped out of the race. In a speech during the ceremony, Haddad-Adel enumerated a number of principles that the principlists are seeking to uphold, saying, “Our first responsibility is to defend the Islamic nature of the government. We have a responsibility to defend the Islamic and republican nature of the system against secularism, which is a great danger.” He also congratulated Iranian President-elect Hassan Rohani on his election, adding, “We announce our support for him. He has said that he will pursue moderation and will be independent, and we strongly support his being moderate and independent.” Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony, Haddad-Adel said that the principlists may form an “inclusive bloc”. The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, delivered a speech during the ceremony in which he hailed Haddad-Adel’s efforts to strengthen the foundations of the Islamic establishment. Mr. Haddad-Adel has made every effort to respect the causes of the Islamic Revolution, said Jalili, who ran in the presidential election and finished in third place with 11.36 percent of the vote. In addition, Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization Director Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Khamoushi addressed the ceremony and thanked Haddad-Adel for his endeavors to promote Iranian culture and Islamic values.