Iran’s presidential election undecided, a reformer wants to create a surprise

Iranians continued Friday afternoon to vote for a presidential election whose outcome looks uncertain due to the breakthrough of a reformer against divided conservative candidates.

Some 61 million voters were called to go to the 58,640 polling stations scattered across the immense country, from the Caspian Sea in the north to the Gulf in the south.

State media showed separate lines of men and women waiting, ID in hand, before casting their ballots at mosques or schools decked out in national colours.

As is traditional, it was the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who launched the operation by voting at 8 a.m. in front of dozens of cameras in Tehran.

Election day is a day of joy and happiness for us Iraniansdid he declare. We recommend to our dear people to take the vote seriously and participate in it. I see no reason to hesitate.

The election was hastily organized after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.

It is closely followed abroad while Iran, a heavyweight in the Middle East, is at the heart of several geopolitical crises, from the war in Gaza to the nuclear issue, in which it opposes Western countries.

Four candidates, men in their fifties and sixties, are in the running.

If none of them garners more than half of the votes, a second round will be held on July 5, which has only been the case in one presidential election, in 2005, since the advent of the Republic. Islamic 45 years ago.

Official results are expected no later than Sunday, but estimates are expected to be released on Saturday.

The unexpected reformist candidate

The surprise may come from the lone reformist candidate, Massoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old lawmaker who was virtually unknown when he was allowed to run by the Guardian Council, the body charged with overseeing the elections.

Discreet in appearance, but speaking frankly, this doctor of Azeri origin, a minority in north-west Iran, has given hope to the reformist and moderate camps, totally marginalized in recent years by the conservatives and ultraconservatives.

Divided Conservatives

Facing him, the supporters of the current government are divided between the candidates Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, conservative president of Parliament, and Saïd Jalili, former ultraconservative negotiator of the nuclear issue and hostile to a rapprochement with the West.

To hope to win, Massoud Pezeshkian must count on a sharp increase in turnout compared to the last elections, which were shunned by around half of the voters.

Only 49% of them voted in the 2021 presidential election, in which no major reformist or moderate candidate was allowed to run.

Opponents, particularly those from the diaspora, called for a boycott of the vote.

Former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who did not participate in the legislative elections in March in order to protest against the disqualification of reformists, nevertheless voted in the morning.

On the other hand, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest since 2011, announced via his daughter on Instagram that he would not participate in the elections.

For Mohammad Reza Hadi, a 37-year-old voter interviewed at a Tehran polling station, it is important to vote in order to choose the political fate of our country ourselves. It is a way of expressing our demands.added Ehsan Ajdi, an employee, to theAFP.

Whatever the result, the election should have limited repercussions, because the president has restricted powers: he is responsible for implementing, at the head of the government, the broad political guidelines set by the supreme guide, who is the head of State.

The veil and nuclear power, electoral issues

During the debates, the ultraconservative Saïd Jalili criticized the moderates for having signed the Iranian nuclear agreement with the great powers in 2015, which did not benefit Iran at all.

Are we supposed to be eternally hostile to America or do we aspire to resolve our problems with this country?asked Mr. Pezeshkian, calling for a relaunch of the nuclear agreement in order to lead to a lifting of the severe sanctions which affect the Iranian economy.

Furthermore, the very sensitive issue of the compulsory wearing of the veil for women emerged in the campaign, almost two years after the vast protest movement which shook the country at the end of 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested for non-compliance with the dress code.

In the televised debates, the candidates distanced themselves from the sometimes violent police arrests of women refusing to wear the hijab in public places.

Under no circumstances should we treat Iranian women with such crueltydeclared Mustafa Pourmohammadi, the only religious candidate.