The following is the text of an interview with the Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei conducted by an IRIB correspondent.
Q: Just like the previous years, Your Eminence went to the ballot box and cast your vote. Would you please tell us what message and advice you have for our dear nation in these critical hours?
A: In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
This is a critical point and a critical day for our nation. Today is a momentous occasion. There are some days in a person's lifetime that have the capacity to determine a major part of his or her destiny. To draw an analogy, it is like Laylat ul-Qadr which marks a critical point in one's life.
Similarly, election days are decisive for a nation during a specific period of time. Therefore, I personally appreciate this day. I should also advise our honored people not to take this day for granted. They are to determine the fate of the next four years of legislation [in our country] with their votes, wills and efforts.
I also warn our dear nation not to leave this great deed to the last minute. They should came and cast their votes in these early hours. "The best deed is one that is done at the right time." One may fall ill until the evening, something urgent may come up, or one may become nervous [when one is pressed for time]. You have a lot of time now. People would be well-advised to vote as early as possible.
I have another piece of advice: our people must make full use of their rights. In Tehran, for instance, we are allowed to vote for 30 candidates, and if we voted for only 29 candidates, it would mean that we decided not to exercise one-thirtieth of our right. It would be much better if we fully exercised our rights. That is to say, we should write the names of 30 candidates - which could be more or less depending on the number of candidates in any constituency - on our ballots.
May God bestow success and a happy fate on you all, and may He accept these efforts from you. Goodbye.