A top Iranian cleric called on Friday the Iranian people to turn out in droves in the upcoming presidential elections in order to resist the negative foreign propaganda, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"While some foreign radios and TVs keep encouraging our people to boycott the elections day and night, the Iranian people should stage a landslide election to prove they do not heed the foreigners' campaign," Mohammad Emami Kashani, interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, was quoted as saying.

Kashani cited Ruholla Khomeini, the founding father of the Islamic republic, to encourage people to vote in the elections.

"As the late Imam Khomeini used to say, vast turnout of the people at the polls is a divine blessing for the country, and a sign of God's immense power," he said.

Iran is to hold its 9th presidential elections on June 17, but the Islamic regime is deeply worried about the fact that the ordinary Iranians have become increasingly unenthusiastic about the voting.

It has been estimated that the actual turnout on June 17 will hover around 50 percent.

Top officials of the Islamic republic, including Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei, have been effortfully encouraging people to vote.

Iran's Guardians Council has approved eight candidates to stand in the elections, including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and former parliamentary speaker Mahdi Karroubi.

Source: Xinhua