Several Iranian celebrities publicly turned down President Hassan Rouhani’s invitation to attend a Ramadan “iftar” dinner scheduled for May 30, 2018, in protest against social and economic issues with the hashtag, “We_will_not_go_to_Iftar” #ما_به_افطاری_نخواهیم_رفت.
The Fars News Agency, a mouthpiece for the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, devoted full coverage to the artists’ boycott and claimed that many who supported Rouhani’s re-election in May 2017 were now abandoning him.
Defending the president’s work, government spokesman Bagher Nobakht told reporters on May 29 that the largest funds allocation in the current national budget, 97 trillion tomans or approximately $23 billion USD, had been slotted for welfare projects.
Nobakht also denied the notion that the people have been worse off economically since Rouhani came to power and called on the country’s experts and elites to help the government make improvements.