Moments after the eleventh presidential elections and the fourth city and village councils elections officially started on Friday, Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution cast his ballots at a polling station in Imam Khomeini (r.a.) Hussayniyyah in Tehran.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the effective, timely, massive and enthusiastic presence of the people in the elections is very important and stressed: "The honorable people of Iran should enter the arena of elections with enthusiasm and motivation and they should know that the destiny of our country and happiness of our nation depend on their presence and their choice."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that the negative propaganda by the enemies and opponents of the Iranian nation is due to the fact that the people's presence plays an essential role in the destiny of the country. He added: "The enemies made a lot of efforts to discourage the people from voting by creating despair and pessimism. In order to achieve this goal, they even went beyond media campaigns. In this election, Western politicians and personalities who are affiliated with the enemy's camp, are openly working against the presence of the people."

His Eminence stated: "Recently, I heard that a person from the US National Security Council has said that they do not approve Iran's elections. Well, we do not give a damn that they do not!"

He added: "If the Iranian people were to wait for your approval before taking action, they would be in serious trouble."

Ayatollah Khamenei demanded all Iranian people to vote in the early hours of the elections. Referring to his vote in the presidential elections, he said: "Nobody, not even those who are close to me, knows what my vote is. The people have a responsibility to research before making a choice."

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution referred to the city and village councils elections and stated: "In this election, I voted for 31 candidates. I am closely familiar with some of them and I chose the others on the basis of my confidence in one of the [election] lists."

His Eminence expressed hope that the elections will benefit the country and bring about happiness and material and spiritual welfare for the people. Addressing the people in charge of the elections, he stressed: "The votes of the people are left in trust with you officials in charge of the ballot boxes and those who count the votes, and it is necessary to be extremely careful in this regard."