As youth lose hope, a reformist runs for president

A surprise election that later became known as a deadly helicopter attack. A candidate promises a particular way both at home and in another country. And suddenly there is an element of postponement and unpredictability in Iran, as citizens go to vote to elect a new president.

Elections within the Islamic Republic are strictly controlled – applicants are vetted through an influential committee of clerics before being put on their feet. And lately voter apathy has been like customers.

However, there is a wild card: Massoud Pezeshkian, a reformist former center surgeon and fitness minister, who has declared “immoral” the moves by Iran’s morality police, who have imposed strict dress codes on women.

At the moment the rules about wearing the hijab are being frequently flouted by women and Mr Pezeshkian, 69, said: “If wearing certain clothes is a sin, then the treatment of women and girls is a 100 times greater sin. Nowhere in religion is there permission to confront someone because of their dress.”

He has also promised to strengthen ties with the West and try to revive nuclear talks, in hopes of ending sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

Mr Pezeshkian has been publicly subsidized through two former reformist presidents, Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, and the previous international minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

His campaign rallies ahead of the voting year attracted growing crowds.

And on Thursday two applicants dropped out of the contest – in an apparent aim to avoid splitting the Conservative vote through the clerical status quo.

The latest opinion polls show Mr Pezeshkian ahead of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a former commander of Iran’s Modern Guards who recently served as speaker of parliament, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Conservatives balk at engagement with the West and argue that Iran can succeed despite sanctions.

There is one alternative candidate left in the race to replace radical Ibrahim Raisi He died in a helicopter attack in a fog-filled mountainous area It still killed seven alternates.

There is no hiding the voting figures as a key test of the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy.

They are at record lows heading into parliamentary elections in March and a supreme presidential election in 2021.

Prominent leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – the latter’s leader in Iran – has called for “maximum” turnout. And a large section of regime supporters are positive towards voting.

However, many young and middle-class Iranians are extremely frustrated and distrustful of any political process conducted by the Islamic Republic, and now want an end to 45 years of clerical rule.

“There are a lot of billboards on the streets asking people to ‘vote for a better tomorrow,’ but we don’t buy it anymore,” a 20-year-old scholar in Tehran told me via text message. , “Nobody wants to vote anymore.”

Since the death of Mahsa Amini, a fragile girl, in police custody in 2022 – and the national uprising it sparked – the gap between Iran’s leaders and its people has widened dramatically.

The brutal crackdown on protesters, particularly among Week Z, stoked hatred towards the regime.

In this era, the hopes pinned on the reformists have been shattered again and again. And, over the years, the number of people marginalized due to lack of gadget improvements was increasing.

Former President Hassan Rouhani was not even allowed to stand in contemporary elections for an influential structure, the Meeting of Professionals, whose job it is to nominate the best head of state.

Many Iranians have lost hope of any significant business during the voting period.

A 70-year-old woman from Tehran, who has previously voted for reformist candidates, told the BBC, “I will not vote this year.” “I know nothing will change. “The economy is in such a bad shape and a generation of young people now want to leave Iran.”

Azad (no longer his real name), a women’s rights activist who was jailed during the protests, described it as an “election circus”.

“When the puppeteer is a single person named Khamenei, it doesn’t matter which name comes out of the ballot box,” he advised me on a social media app. “At the height of the unrest, people took to the streets repeatedly chanting: ‘Reformists, conservatives, the game is over’.”

Some believe that the clerical status quo merely allowed Mr. Pezeshkian to rise to his feet in an effort to boost turnout.

Azad called it a “game” being played by the government. “We don’t trust them and don’t want to be manipulated again.”

Many people in Tehran whom I have spoken to over the past few days have expressed the same view.

“There is a duty to vote but I will not vote,” a legal scholar told the BBC. “Because all past elections have shown that no elected president has done anything better for the people.”

However, others may also be drawn to the polling booth through the small glimmer of hope for business that Mr. Pezeshkian represents for liberal-minded Iranians.

“I will vote for Pezeshkian,” says Maryam, 54, of Tehran. “I believe change can only come from within Iran – through reform.”

He likes the fact that his background is not in the security forces and that he is “clean”, with no allegations of corruption against him.

He also hopes that he can advance Iran’s family to the outside world, and believes that he will win.

If he does, there’s a big question mark over what room he will have for maneuver.

“Pezeshkian is a reformist in name only,” says Sanam Vakil of the think-tank Chatham Area.

“He supports the Islamic Republic and is deeply loyal to the Supreme Leader. His participation could potentially boost public voting and increase enthusiasm, but no one should expect much of a difference in tone if he is elected.