IRNA - The first vice president, emphasizing that defending the elections is a defense of national interests, said that the criticism is in place and should be addressed, but all must participate in the elections for the sake of the country.

Referring to the recent developments in the region, Eshaq Jahangiri said on Saturday that what has happened in our region in recent years has always been a great and influential development, and such developments usually take place over a century.

Jahangiri added that these developments showed that Iran is a country with a great cultural, historical and popular background, despite various incidents, some of which have been to confront the Islamic Republic of Iran, and this nation has come out of all this with pride.

In another part of his remarks, the First Vice-President referred to the parliamentary elections adding that the election is one of the aspirations of the Iranian nation and "we must all support it".