DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranians voted Friday in a presidential runoff election between a hard-line former nuclear negotiator and a reformist lawmaker, both of whom are trying to convince a skeptical public to vote after the country has been rocked by years of economic crisis and mass protests.
Competition among hardliners Said Djalili and Massoud PezechkianThe cardiac surgeon and longtime member of parliament voted in the first round. Iran elections see lowest voter turnout everFriday's voter turnout is a big question mark.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, The war between Israel and Hamas Gaza Strip in April Iran launches first-ever direct attack on Israel The war in Gaza has seen militias such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels, both of which Iran has armed in the region, join the fighting and intensify attacks.
Iran continues to enrich uranium to near weapons-grade levels Iran also has enough nuclear weapons to build several, and while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remains the final decision maker in national affairs, Iran's foreign policy is likely to lean toward either confrontation or cooperation with the West, regardless of who wins the presidential election.
Security was tight on the streets of Tehran on Friday and crowds were sparse at dozens of polling stations, and state television showed footage of people queuing up at polling stations across the country.
More than 50 countries will hold elections in 2024
Both Mr. Jalili and Mr. Pezeshkian voted in Tehran's poor southern areas to boost voter turnout. While Mr. Pezeshkian came out on top in the first round of voting on June 28, Mr. Jalili has been trying to secure votes from supporters of hardline Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who came in third and later backed Mr. Jalili, a former negotiator.
Voter Yagoub Mohammadi, 27, said he voted for Jalili both times.
“He is clean and not dependent on those in power within the system,” Mohammadi said. “He represents those who do not have access to power.”
Voter Samira Sharafi, a 34-year-old mother of a young child, said she had voted for Qalibaf in the first round but instead voted for the reformist Pezeshkian, whom she described as more “experienced” than Jalili.
There were calls for a boycott, including of those incarcerated. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges MohammadiBut with no widely recognised opposition movement active in Iran at home or abroad, potential voters appeared to have decided last week not to take it upon themselves to cast their ballots.
State television showed footage of low-key queues at several polling stations across the country as polls opened on Friday.
As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Women and People Seeking Radical Change They will be excluded from the ballot paper and the vote itself will not be monitored by internationally recognized observers.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who is overseeing the elections, announced that all polling stations were opened at 8 a.m. local time.
Khamenei cast one of the first votes in the election from his home, with television cameras and photographers filming him placing his ballot in a ballot box.
“I hear that people's enthusiasm is stronger than before,” Khamenei said. “God willing, people will vote and choose the best candidate.”
But Khamenei said Wednesday that those who did not vote last week were not opposed to Shiite theocracy in the country.
“There are reasons behind this issue that sociologists and political actors should look into,” he said.
More than 61 million Iranians aged 18 and over are eligible to vote, of which 18 million are between 18 and 30. Elections are due to end at 6pm local time but traditionally are extended until midnight to increase voter turnout.
Friday's election will be Iran's second presidential runoff since 1979. The first was in 2005, when hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Under Ahmadinejad, Iran faced international sanctions over its nuclear program and the 2009 Green Movement protests and the crackdown that suppressed them.
Pezeshkian's supporters have warned that Jalili would set up a “Taliban”-style government in Tehran, while Jalili has accused him of waging a campaign of fear.
The election The late President Ebrahim Raisi, 63 years old The foreign minister and others were killed in a helicopter crash on May 19. A protege of Khamenei, he was seen as a possible successor to the supreme leader, but many know him for his role in Iran's 1988 mass executions and the bloody crackdown on dissent that followed protests over the death of Iran's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2022. Mahasa Amini, a young woman detained by police She was allegedly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, improperly.
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Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran.
