Tehran: Iranians began voting on Friday in the snap presidential elections announced in the wake of late President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash, as voters are left with limited choices with a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at a time of growing regional tensions and mounting public frustration.
Polls opened at 8:00 am (10:30 am IST) and will close at 6:00 pm (8:00 pm IST), but they are usually extended as late as midnight. Just like the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from the ballot while internationally recognised monitors have also been banned from observing the ongoing electuions.
While the election is unlikely to bring a major shift in the Islamic Republic's policies, its outcome could influence the succession to Khamenei, 85, in power since 1989. Khamenei called for a high turnout to offset a legitimacy crisis fuelled by public discontent over economic woes and curbs on political and social freedom.
Voter turnout plunges in Iran as public frustration grows
Voter turnout has plunged over the past four years, as a mostly youthful population is increasingly at political and social curbs. The country saw a voter turnout of 41 per cent in the legislative elections held in March, the lowest participation since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Additionally, the Iranian economy is beset by mismanagement, state corruption and sanctions re-imposed since 2018 after the nuclear deal with the US fell apart.
The voting comes as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.
"The durability, strength, dignity and reputation of the Islamic Republic depend on the presence of people," Khamenei told state television after casting his vote. "High turnout is a definite necessity," Khamenei has the final say in all important state matters, and the parliament plays a secondary role in governing the country.
Who are the candidates?
Three candidates are hardliners and one is a low-profile comparative moderate, backed by the reformist faction that has largely been sidelined in Iran in recent years. Prominent among the remaining hardliners are Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, parliament speaker and former commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, and Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who served for four years in Khamenei's office.
The sole comparative moderate, Massoud Pezeshkian, is faithful to Iran's theocratic rule, but advocates detente with the West, economic reform, social liberalisation and political pluralism. His chances rely on reviving the enthusiasm of reform-minded voters who have largely stayed away from the polls for the last four years after previous pragmatist presidents brought little change.
A hardline watchdog body called the Guardian Council made up of six clerics and six jurists aligned with Khamenei is tasked with choosing the candidates for the presidential elections. Only six candidates were selected from a pool of 80, and two hardline candidates - Tehran's mayor Alireza Zakani and head of the Martyrs' Foundation Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi - dropped out of the race on Thursday.
Zakani urged the two most prominent hardline ones to join forces to prevent moderate Masoud Pezeshkian from winning. "I call upon Saeed Jalili and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf to unite and not leave the demands of the revolutionary forces unanswered," Zakani wrote on X. Meanwhile, dissidents in and outside Iran have called for an election boycott, saying that a high turnout will legitimise the Islamic Republic.
When will the results be announced?
Manual counting of ballots means the final result is expected to be announced only in two days, though initial figures may come out sooner. If no candidate manages to win at least 50 per cent plus one vote from all ballots cast, including blank votes, a run-off round between the top two candidates will be held on the first Friday after the election result is declared.
More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 to 30. Meanwhile, Iranian activists and opposition groups are distributing the Twitter hashtag #ElectionCircus widely on social media, in a bid for a regime change.
Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, and others were killed in the May 19 helicopter crash in the far northwest of Iran. Investigations are continuing, though authorities say there's no immediate sign of foul play in the crash on a cloud-covered mountainside. Raisi is the second Iranian president to die in office. In 1981, a bomb blast killed President Mohammad Ali Rajai in the chaotic days after the country's Islamic Revolution.
(with inputs from agencies)
