📷 Image Credits: Press TV
Iranians have headed to the polls in the runoff presidential election, a week after none of the candidates could secure the majority of votes in the snap election. Iranian candidates Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili held their last campaign rallies on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s runoff vote to elect the country’s new president. Voters will choose between hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, who has aligned himself with those seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Domestic issues that have loomed over the race include a renewed crackdown on mandatory headscarfs for women and a proposed gasoline price hike, as well as years of economic malaise marked by widespread unemployment and high inflation. After a record-low turnout in the first round of voting on June 28, it remains unclear how many Iranians will take part in Friday’s poll. Iranian law requires a runoff if no one candidate gets more than 50% of all votes cast in the first round.
While 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state, presidents can bend Iran toward confrontation or negotiations with the West. Both hard-liner Saeed Jalili and reformist Masoud Pezeshkian have taken to the streets of Tehran, attempting to mobilize their supporters. Results are yet to be finalized, but the runoff election is poised to make significant impact on Iran’s domestic and foreign policies moving forward.
