Citizens of Iran cast their votes on Friday in a presidential election characterized by a lone reformist’s attempt to make headway against a fragmented conservative field.
Approximately 61 million Iranians have the eligibility to participate in the election which was called following the demise of the ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash just last month.
This expedited election unfolds amidst escalated regional tensions stemming from the Gaza conflict and dissatisfaction with Iran’s economy, which is grappling with the repercussions of sanctions.
The primary contenders green-lighted by the Guardian Council, responsible for vetting candidates, encompass conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, and the sole reformist, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Overshadowed by the withdrawal of two ultraconservatives—Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani and Raisi’s former vice president Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi—the solitary alternative is cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi.
The voting process is unfolding at 58,640 polling venues across the nation, predominantly in educational institutions and mosques.
“Election day is a moment of jubilation and contentment for us Iranians,” remarked supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the paramount political authority in the Islamic republic, as he cast his vote shortly after the polling stations opened.
“We urge our esteemed citizens to approach the act of voting with seriousness and engagement,” he emphasized.
During the previous election in 2021, the voter turnout remained slightly below 49 percent as many voters abstained following the disqualification of numerous reformists and moderates by the Guardian Council.
In the lead-up to this election, some voters voiced apprehensions regarding the escalating impacts of surging inflation and the depreciation of the rial against the dollar.
Yet, those trickling into polling stations on Friday expressed solidarity with the system.
“We are engaging in this election to shape the political destiny and governance of our nation on our own accord,” stated Mohammad Reza Hadi, a 37-year-old student in Tehran, to AFP.
Ehsan Ajdi, a 39-year-old public sector worker in the capital, supplemented, “Our participation is rooted in our commitment to democracy… a principle exemplified through electoral processes.”
The Iranian opposition, particularly in the diaspora, has advocated for a boycott of the election, deeming it lacking in credibility.
The nomination of Pezeshkian, formerly a relative unknown, has rejuvenated cautious optimism within Iran’s reformist faction after years dominated by conservative and ultraconservative factions.
The last reformist president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, hailed Pezeshkian as “honest, just, and compassionate.”
Khatami, who served from 1997 to 2005, had also endorsed the moderate Hassan Rouhani, who assumed the presidency and sealed Iran’s nuclear pact in 2015 with Western powers before its derailment three years later.
Khamenei emphasized this week that the next president must be “the most qualified candidate” and a firm believer in the tenets of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the US-backed monarchy.
He underscored that the forthcoming president should enable Iran to progress independently without relying on foreign nations, although urging against severing ties with the global community.
Debates during the campaigning period saw Jalili criticizing moderates for endorsing the 2015 agreement that pledged sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for constraints on its nuclear program.
Jalili contended that the accord, from which the United States withdrew in 2018 under the presidency of Donald Trump, “did not yield any benefits for Iran.”
Jalili had overseen Iran’s nuclear program negotiations between 2007 and 2013.
Pezeshkian advocated for endeavors to salvage the agreement and alleviate the punitive sanctions.
“Should we perpetually remain at odds with America, or should we aspire to resolve our issues with this nation?” he posed.
On the eve of the election, the United States imposed sanctions on shipping firms, based in the United Arab Emirates, for transporting Iranian oil, citing responses to “escalations” in Iran’s nuclear activities.
The contentious issue of mandatory head coverings for women also surfaced during the campaign, almost two years following extensive protests that swept Iran following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22.
Amini, an Iranian Kurd, had been detained for allegedly violating the country’s stringent female dress regulations.
In televised debates, all candidates distanced themselves from aggressive police actions against women declining to wear the hijab in public.
Pourmohammadi, the solitary clerical contender, underscored that “under no circumstances should we mistreat Iranian women in such a manner.”
The polling stations are set to remain accessible until 6:00 pm (1430 GMT), with the possibility of extending the voting period as seen in previous electoral cycles.
Preliminary projections of the outcomes are anticipated by Saturday morning, with official results to follow on Sunday.
If no candidate garners 50 percent of the vote, a second round is slated for July 5, marking only the second occurrence in Iranian electoral history after a runoff in the 2005 election.
