Iranians began voting on Friday to elect a new president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.
The Guardian Council, a tough committee of clerics and jurists overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate power over all state matters, reviewed more than 80 applicants, including four women, and only six were selected through a rigorous selection process.
Following the Guardian Council’s approval of six candidates for the 2024 elections, the two candidates who withdrew from the election on Thursday were Alireza Zakhani and Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, both considered hardliners, who decided to withdraw from running for president.
Prominent hardliners still in the fray include Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, the current speaker of parliament and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, and Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who worked in Khamenei’s office for four years.
The top four candidates selected are:
Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, a Khamenei ally and former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, currently speaker of the hardline-dominated parliament, has run unsuccessfully for president twice and declined to run a third time in 2017 to avoid splitting the hardline vote in Raisi’s first presidential election.
In 2005, Qalibaf left the Guard to run for president and, with the support of the supreme leader, was appointed mayor of Tehran, a post he held for 12 years.
Civil rights activists remember Qalibaf as a man who, as head of the national police, suppressed protests, personally assaulted demonstrators in 1999 and took an active role in quelling unrest in 2003.
Massoud PezechkianPezeshkian, an Azerbaijani-Iranian lawmaker, is the only moderate candidate approved by the Guardian Council and backed by reformists. His success will depend on mobilizing huge numbers of disgruntled voters who have abstained from voting since 2020.
Pezeshkian is a physician and served as Minister of Health under President Mohammed Khatami’s reformist government from 2001 to 2005. He has served continuously as a member of parliament since 2008.
Pezeshkian publicly criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran’s lack of transparency surrounding the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman, which sparked months of unrest.
He had already been disqualified from running in the 2021 presidential election.
Said DjaliliA hardline diplomat, Mr. Jalili lost his right leg while fighting as part of the guards in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. With a doctorate in political science, he is an outspoken believer in Iran’s “rule by supreme law,” or rule by a supreme law, which is the bedrock of Khamenei’s office.
Appointed by Khamenei, Jalili served as secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council for five years from 2007.
Jalili worked in Khamenei’s office for four years and ran unsuccessfully in the 2013 presidential elections, but he had previously served as deputy foreign minister and was appointed by Khamenei in 2013 to serve as a member of the Expediency Council, the body responsible for resolving conflicts between parliament and the Guardian Council.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi
Mostafa, the only cleric running for president, served as interior minister under hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2008, early in his term.
Mostafa served as deputy intelligence minister from 1990 to 1999. Human rights groups accuse him of involvement in the 1998 assassinations of several prominent Iranian opposition intellectuals.
In a 2005 report, Human Rights Watch documented Mostafa’s alleged involvement in the execution of hundreds of political prisoners in Tehran in 1988.
Voting date and time
Polls are scheduled to open at 8am on Friday, June 28th and close at 6pm, although voting hours often extend and can go until late at night.
Iran’s upcoming elections are not expected to significantly change the country’s political direction, but the results could play a key role in determining who will succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, who has been in power since 1989.
Khamenei called on people to participate in the elections in large numbers: “The longevity, strength, dignity and reputation of the Islamic Republic depends on the existence of its people,” he said, adding that “high voter turnout is essential.”
Latest poll percentages
According to the NYT, the latest poll released earlier this week by the conservative government-affiliated Imam Sadiq University showed Masoud Pezeshkian leading with about 24.4% of the vote, followed by Mohammed Baker Ghalibaf with 23.4% and Said Djalili with 21.5%. The other candidates received less than 5% of the vote each, leaving about a fifth of voters undecided.
Voter turnout in past electionsVoter participation has fallen significantly over the past four years and there has been growing dissatisfaction with political and social restrictions, particularly among younger voters.
The vote count is done manually, so results are expected within two days, although preliminary results may come sooner.
Opponents of Iran’s clerical leadership argue that low voter turnout in recent elections, including just 48% in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power and a record 41% in parliamentary elections three months ago, indicates the regime’s legitimacy is waning.
Iran’s upcoming presidential elections come amid rising tensions in the Middle East, with Israel locked in conflict with Iranian proxies including Gaza-based Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
(With input from relevant agencies)
The Guardian Council, a tough committee of clerics and jurists overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate power over all state matters, reviewed more than 80 applicants, including four women, and only six were selected through a rigorous selection process.
Following the Guardian Council’s approval of six candidates for the 2024 elections, the two candidates who withdrew from the election on Thursday were Alireza Zakhani and Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, both considered hardliners, who decided to withdraw from running for president.
Prominent hardliners still in the fray include Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, the current speaker of parliament and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, and Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who worked in Khamenei’s office for four years.
The top four candidates selected are:
Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, a Khamenei ally and former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, currently speaker of the hardline-dominated parliament, has run unsuccessfully for president twice and declined to run a third time in 2017 to avoid splitting the hardline vote in Raisi’s first presidential election.
In 2005, Qalibaf left the Guard to run for president and, with the support of the supreme leader, was appointed mayor of Tehran, a post he held for 12 years.
Civil rights activists remember Qalibaf as a man who, as head of the national police, suppressed protests, personally assaulted demonstrators in 1999 and took an active role in quelling unrest in 2003.
Massoud PezechkianPezeshkian, an Azerbaijani-Iranian lawmaker, is the only moderate candidate approved by the Guardian Council and backed by reformists. His success will depend on mobilizing huge numbers of disgruntled voters who have abstained from voting since 2020.
Pezeshkian is a physician and served as Minister of Health under President Mohammed Khatami’s reformist government from 2001 to 2005. He has served continuously as a member of parliament since 2008.
Pezeshkian publicly criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran’s lack of transparency surrounding the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman, which sparked months of unrest.
He had already been disqualified from running in the 2021 presidential election.
Said DjaliliA hardline diplomat, Mr. Jalili lost his right leg while fighting as part of the guards in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. With a doctorate in political science, he is an outspoken believer in Iran’s “rule by supreme law,” or rule by a supreme law, which is the bedrock of Khamenei’s office.
Appointed by Khamenei, Jalili served as secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council for five years from 2007.
Jalili worked in Khamenei’s office for four years and ran unsuccessfully in the 2013 presidential elections, but he had previously served as deputy foreign minister and was appointed by Khamenei in 2013 to serve as a member of the Expediency Council, the body responsible for resolving conflicts between parliament and the Guardian Council.
Mostafa Pourmohammadi
Mostafa, the only cleric running for president, served as interior minister under hardline former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2008, early in his term.
Mostafa served as deputy intelligence minister from 1990 to 1999. Human rights groups accuse him of involvement in the 1998 assassinations of several prominent Iranian opposition intellectuals.
In a 2005 report, Human Rights Watch documented Mostafa’s alleged involvement in the execution of hundreds of political prisoners in Tehran in 1988.
Voting date and time
Polls are scheduled to open at 8am on Friday, June 28th and close at 6pm, although voting hours often extend and can go until late at night.
Iran’s upcoming elections are not expected to significantly change the country’s political direction, but the results could play a key role in determining who will succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, who has been in power since 1989.
Khamenei called on people to participate in the elections in large numbers: “The longevity, strength, dignity and reputation of the Islamic Republic depends on the existence of its people,” he said, adding that “high voter turnout is essential.”
Latest poll percentages
According to the NYT, the latest poll released earlier this week by the conservative government-affiliated Imam Sadiq University showed Masoud Pezeshkian leading with about 24.4% of the vote, followed by Mohammed Baker Ghalibaf with 23.4% and Said Djalili with 21.5%. The other candidates received less than 5% of the vote each, leaving about a fifth of voters undecided.
Voter turnout in past electionsVoter participation has fallen significantly over the past four years and there has been growing dissatisfaction with political and social restrictions, particularly among younger voters.
The vote count is done manually, so results are expected within two days, although preliminary results may come sooner.
Opponents of Iran’s clerical leadership argue that low voter turnout in recent elections, including just 48% in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power and a record 41% in parliamentary elections three months ago, indicates the regime’s legitimacy is waning.
Iran’s upcoming presidential elections come amid rising tensions in the Middle East, with Israel locked in conflict with Iranian proxies including Gaza-based Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
(With input from relevant agencies)
