Image source, Shutterstock
- author, Tom Bennett
- role, BBC News
Voters will elect Iran's new president on Friday as hardline conservatives face off against reformists.
The runoff election is being held after no candidate received a majority in the first round of voting on June 28. Turnout in the first round was a record low of 40%.
One of them, Dr. Massoud Pezeshkian, a former heart surgeon, has criticized Iran's notorious morality police, while his rival, Saeed Jalili, supports the status quo.
The election was held after Iran's former president, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter crash in May that also killed seven others.
Dr Pezeshkian has caused a stir by pledging “unity and solidarity” and saying he would end Iran's “isolation” from the world.
He has called for “constructive negotiations” with Western countries over a renewal of the stalled 2015 nuclear deal, in which Iran agreed to scale back its nuclear program in exchange for easing Western sanctions.
A former nuclear negotiator who enjoys strong support from Iran's most religious community, Jalili is known for his strong anti-Western stance and opposition to reviving the nuclear deal, which he believes has crossed Iran's “red line”.
To run, both candidates had to go through a vetting process by the Guardian Council, Iran's most powerful body of 12 clerics and jurists.
This procedure resulted in 74 candidates being excluded from the election, including several women.
The Oversight Council has previously been criticized by human rights groups for disqualifying candidates who were not sufficiently loyal to the regime.
After years of civil war – culminating in anti-regime protests that rocked the country in 2022-23 – many young and middle-class Iranians deeply distrust the regime and have so far refused to vote.
Turnout in the first round was the lowest since the Iranian revolution of 1979, and voter apathy could be a deciding factor in the runoff.
The Persian-language hashtag “traitor minority” has been circulating on Iranian social media, urging people not to vote for either candidate and calling those who do “traitors.”
But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied that the low turnout represented a rejection of his rule.
“There is a reason [behind the low turnout] “Politicians and sociologists will examine their actions, but if anyone thinks that those who did not vote are against the system, that is clearly wrong,” he said.
In an unusual remark, Khamenei acknowledged that some Iranians do not accept the current regime: “We listen to them, we know what they are saying. They are not hidden and invisible,” he said.
Local media in Iran are calling on citizens to vote.
“The future depends on your vote,” said reformist daily Sazandegi, while Hamihan said “now it's your turn.”
Tehran city-run daily Hamshahri published an article titled “100 reasons to vote,” while state broadcaster-run daily Jam-e-Jam said Iran was “waiting for its people.”
The results of the primary election are expected to be announced by Saturday morning.
