Official data from Friday’s election showed a historically low turnout of just 40 percent, as the economic collapse and frustrating political repression fuel widespread public apathy.
The snap presidential election was marked by a climactic moment, when President Ibrahim Raisi, a hard-line conservative, was killed in a helicopter attack. According to Iran’s electoral regulation, any candidate for the post of President must win at least 50 percent of the votes. The runoff will be held on July 5.
Some Iranians speculated that Pezeshkian’s position in the second round would mobilize pro-reform voters to cast ballots, while others were not convinced that he could initiate significant change.
In Iran’s Shia theocracy, supreme authority rests with the popular leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds the general opinion on important issues such as national security and foreign policy. However, as head of the presidency and the second highest-rated expert, the President can formulate financial policy, influence how strictly ethical codes are enforced, and guide international relations with different countries. Is.
Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon and lawmaker, supports engagement with the West and has criticized strict enforcement of dress codes required of women. However, when he entered the race he was not among Iran’s foremost reformists and his “public expressions of loyalty to Khamenei indicate little willingness to directly oppose the supreme leader on any significant issue,” says Eurasia Workforce. Gregory Brough, Iran analyst, wrote. Stay aware in a briefing.
While he would also likely take aim at key policy guarantees, Bru said, “he will face opposition from almost every branch of the Islamic Republic’s system of governance, where fundamentalists will continue to dominate.”
Jalili, on the other hand, is a staunch regime hardliner, religious conservative and disciple of the leader’s favourite. His positions – which include enduring hostility toward the West, strict dress codes for women and developing better relations with Russia – align more closely with Iran’s ruling system.
On the economic front, hard-liners like Jalili “believe in a closed economy under their control,” Ehsan Nasser, a board member of Iran’s Chamber of Trade, Business and Mines, told the reformist news website Entekhaab on Saturday.
A closed financial system creates a “breeding ground for corruption,” Nasser said. “They do not believe in active participation of society in the economy.”
In comments carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday, Jalili said the elections were “an expression of religious democracy, showing that in the Islamic Republic, power lies with the people of Iran.”
He called on Iranians to campaign for him that year and “actively participate” in the runoffs, declaring that the government needed strong backup from the crowd to withstand fundamental challenges.
Top voter turnout is vital to the legitimacy of the regime and before the election, Khamenei suggested people go ahead and cast their ballots.
“The continuity of the Islamic Republic depends on the presence and participation of the people,” Khamenei told reporters on Friday. After the government extended voting by six hours, analysts said it was a bid to increase participation.
Iran has about 60 million eligible voters, but only 24 million voted on Friday. Among them, Pezeshkian received 10.4 million votes. Jalili gained 9.4 million and Ghalibaf gained three million.
Conservative voters took to social media on Saturday to express their anger towards Ghalibaf, who they said split the tough order vote by refusing to take the ill-advised step.
Two alternative conservative candidates withdrew from the race just days before the vote, although Jalili and Ghalibaf both opposed the withdrawal.
Ghalibaf, a former military commander and mayor of Tehran, advised Jalili in a comment shortly after the results were announced. He called him a “candidate of the revolutionary front” and said that conservatives “should not let reformists go to work.”
At a news conference on Saturday, the head of Pezeshkian’s campaign headquarters, Abdul Alizadeh, hit back.
“This is not the way to run the country. What are you doing?” Entekhab declared, quoting Alizadeh.
He also rejected the complaint that the President has dissenting powers.
“Don’t say that the President has no authority…the President has a lot of authority,” he said, pointing to the leader’s ability to formulate social and economic policy. “When electing the President the people choose the future of the country.”
