Iranians will vote for a new president on Friday following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. They will choose from a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader. The election will take place at a time when public frustration is growing.
While the election is unlikely to bring about any major changes to the Islamic Republic’s policies, its outcome could influence the succession of Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been in power for three and a half decades.
Khamenei has called for a “maximum” turnout to overcome a legitimacy crisis sparked by public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedoms.
Voter turnout has declined sharply over the past four years, and much of the young population is upset by political and social restrictions.
Voting begins at 8:00 am (0430 GMT) local time and closes at 6:00 pm (1430 GMT), but is usually extended until midnight. Since ballots are counted manually, final results are expected to be announced in just two days, although initial figures may emerge earlier.
If no candidate wins at least 50 percent plus one vote of all votes cast, including blank votes, a run-off round is held between the top two candidates on the first Friday after the election results are declared.
Three of the candidates are hardliners and one is a relatively less popular moderate, backed by the reformist faction, which has been largely sidelined in Iran in recent years.
Critics of Iran’s clerical regime say low and declining turnout in recent elections shows the system has lost its legitimacy. Just 48% of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout in the parliamentary election three months ago hit a record low of 41%.
The election comes at a time of rising regional tensions over wars between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as Western pressure on Iran over its rapidly expanding nuclear programme.
The next president is not expected to make any major policy changes on Iran’s nuclear program or support for militia groups in the Middle East, as Khamenei makes all decisions on top state affairs. However, the president runs the government day-to-day and can influence the tone of Iran’s foreign and domestic policy.
A hardline watchdog composed of six clerics and six jurists allied to Khamenei vets candidates. It approved only six candidates from an initial pool of 80. Two hardline candidates were later dropped.
Prominent among the remaining hardliners are Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the parliament speaker and former commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, and Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who served in Khamenei’s office for four years.
The only comparative liberal, Masoud Pezeshkian, is loyal to the country’s theocratic regime but advocates reconciliation with the West, economic reform, social liberalization, and political pluralism.
His prospects rest on reviving the enthusiasm of reformist voters who have stayed away from the polls over the past four years because previous pragmatist presidents have made little change. He may also benefit from the failure of his rivals to unite the radical vote.
All four candidates have vowed to revive a sluggish economy plagued by mismanagement, government corruption and sanctions that were reimposed since the United States in 2018 abandoned Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers.
The hashtag #ElectionCircus has been widely posted by Iranians on social media platforms over the past few weeks, with some activists at home and abroad calling for a boycott of the election, and arguing that a high turnout would lend legitimacy to the Islamic Republic.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
