Iranians are once again heading to the polls for a presidential runoff election pitting centrist Massoud Pezeshkian against hardline candidate Saeed Jalili to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
Friday’s second round of voting, held after neither candidate won a majority in the June 28 vote, saw Pezeshkian win around 42.5 percent of the vote and Jalili around 38.7 percent.
Voting was initially scheduled to close at 6pm local time (12:30 GMT) but was extended until midnight local time (20:30 GMT) on Friday.
The election comes amid rising regional tensions fuelled by Israel’s Gaza war, a standoff between Iran and the West over its nuclear programme, growing discontent with a sanctions-hit economy and disillusionment after deadly protests in 2022-2023.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, cast his vote as polling stations opened at 8am (4.30am GMT), state television said.
“Today is a good day to vote,” the president said in his speech, urging people to go vote.
“We will choose the right candidate. At this stage, the people should make further efforts to elect a president by tomorrow.”
Both Pezeshkian and Jalili voted in the capital, Tehran.
Pezeshkian was accompanied by supporters, including former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as she voted at a girls’ high school in western Tehran.
Supporters surrounded Jalili as he entered the Grand Mosque in Qarchak, a more traditional and religious area southeast of the capital.
Several other prominent figures also voted, including former President Hassan Rouhani, disqualified centrist candidate Ali Larijani and Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani.
Just 40% of Iran’s 61 million eligible voters turned out in June, the lowest turnout in a presidential election since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said one poll released just before the second round of voting had shown Pezeshkian was likely to win, but that both sides ultimately predicted victory.
“But there are suggestions that the polls leading up to last week’s election were botched, so we could see another surprise today. The biggest concern here is voter turnout.”
He added that a low turnout would likely favor Jalili, while a high turnout would likely favor Pezeshkian.
Shabnam, a 24-year-old medical and doctoral student who did not vote, told Al Jazeera: “I feel that the country’s president does not have much autonomy and the promises made during the election campaign are hollow, empty and not pure.”
“The authorities keep saying that every vote brings legitimacy, but people are getting text messages saying that every vote is a vote for the regime,” she said. “I feel like my vote will be used, so I refuse to vote.”
Late on Thursday, Attorney General Mohammad Movahedi Azad warned politicians and the media to refrain from prematurely announcing election results “without basis or record.”
“Any media moves aimed at confusing public opinion and suggesting an early victory for a candidate before the results have been announced by the Ministry of Interior and verified by the Guardian Council will be legally prosecuted.”
Low voter turnout
Khamenei said joining the first round was “not as expected” but that it was not an act “against the regime.”
Conservative Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf came in third with 13.8 percent of the vote in last week’s vote, while Islamist leader Mostafa Pourmohammadi received less than 1 percent.
Elections were originally scheduled for 2025 but were brought forward following Raisi’s death.
The runoff candidates held two debates, discussing Iran’s economic problems, international relations, low voter turnout and internet restrictions.
Pezeshkian, 69, said Tuesday that Iranians are “fed up with their living conditions and unhappy with the way their government is running things.” He called for “constructive relations” with the United States and European countries to “bring Iran out of isolation.”
Mr Jalili, 58, rallied a large base of hardline supporters and also won the backing of Mr Ghalibaf and two other conservative candidates who withdrew from the election before the first round.
He argues that Iran does not need the abandoned nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers to move forward.
Jalili said that by allowing inspections of nuclear facilities, Iran had violated all of its “red lines,” noting that the 2015 deal had limited Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions. The accord has been in jeopardy since then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018.
Jalili has held several senior positions, including in Khamenei’s office in the early 2000s, and currently serves as one of Khamenei’s representatives on the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security body.
Still, in an unprecedented trend, some conservative figures have come out in support of the more moderate Pezeshkian, according to Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University.
“Jalili has gone too extreme. He will exacerbate domestic problems and prevent the resolution of outstanding issues with the US,” Nasr told Al Jazeera.
“His team is also seen as corrupt and incompetent,” he added.
Prominent figures who urged voters to vote for Pezesian included Sami Nazari Tarkarani, who ran Ghalibaf’s campaign, and Sardar Rashid, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards.
In Tehran, 19-year-old Merika Moghtadaye said she voted for Jalili because she believes he is the best candidate to address the country’s economic situation.
“If Jalili is elected, we hope he will contribute to improving the country’s economy as we hope,” the university student told AFP.
Meanwhile, Hossein, 40, said he would vote for Pezeshkian, whom he believes is the candidate who can “make a difference.”
“During the election campaign it seemed to me that he was raising important issues honestly,” he told AFP.
Afarin, who runs a beauty salon in the capital of Isfahan province, was less convinced. She said she sat out the first round of voting but voted for Pezeshkian on Friday.
“I know Pezechkian will be a lame duck president, but he’s still better than a hard-liner,” the 37-year-old told Reuters.
Whatever the outcome, Iran’s next president will be responsible for implementing national policies set by the supreme leader, who holds ultimate authority in the country.
Follow our election updates here.
