Polls Open in Iran Runoff Election
Iranians are voting in a runoff election on Friday to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi. Voters will choose between hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, who has aligned himself with those seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Raisi was killed in a May helicopter crash in the country’s northwest along with the foreign minister and several other officials.
After a record-low turnout in the first round of voting June 28, it remains unclear how many Iranians will take part in Friday’s poll. Iranian law requires that a runoff if no one candidate gets more than 50% of all votes cast in the first round.
Voter turnout has plunged over the past four years, which critics say shows support for the system has eroded amid growing public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedoms.
Only 48% of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout was 41% in a parliamentary election in March.
Jalili, 58, served as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2007 to 2013. His hard-line vision for Iran has been criticized by opponents as being like the “Taliban” and risks inflaming public tensions after years of economic hardship and mass protests.
Pezeshkian, 69, has allied himself with relatively moderate elements of Iran’s political system, including former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped reach Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon and a longtime lawmaker from Tabriz in northwestern Iran. Jalili supporters have criticized Pezeshkian’s campaign for fearmongering, while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has issued a veiled warning about outreach to the US.
