“The Iranian nation has to be alert” ahead of the polls, Khamenei told visitors in remarks made on the occasion of the Eid al-Qadir feast which commemorates the Prophet Mohammed’s last sermon.
Khamenei described the March elections as a major test of wills for the Iranian people.
“The enemy may benefit from any negligence and hurt us,” he warned.
Allies of pragmatic ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his reformist successor Mohammad Khatami are expected to team up in the March 14 elections against hardliners loyal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The coalition comes amid harsh criticism of Ahmadinejad’s foreign policies, including his refusal to make concessions in Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West.
Khamenei also urged unity among Muslims against so-called “enemies” including the United States.
“Today the world arrogance wants with utmost treachery… to inject the virus of disagreement among the different parts of the Islamic body,” he said in reference to Washington.
“Today the Islamic factions should not target one another… There should be no disagreement” among Muslims, Khamenei said.
Eid al-Qadir is celebrated mainly by Shiites, who regard the Prophet Mohammed’s final sermon as confirmation that Imam Ali was to succeed him.
