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Iranians Await Winner Of Presidential Poll, Amid Closely Watched Voter Turnout Figures

By RFE/RL and RFE/RL's Radio Farda July 05, 2024

Iranians are awaiting an announcement of the winner of the country's July 5 runoff presidential elections that pitted a reformist veteran politician and a hard-liner close to the country's all-powerful supreme leader.

Results of the vote -- being held at a time when Iranians are contending with a lack of freedoms, declining living standards, and a faltering economy -- will also be closely watched for details of participation levels following a record-low turnout of 39.9 percent in the first round on June 28.

No candidate secured enough votes to be declared the outright winner in that round, which failed to generate widespread participation despite calls by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for a high turnout to project an image of a strong Iran where its people back the political establishment.

Voting on July 5 was scheduled to end at 6 p.m. local, but it was extended three times -- once to 8 p.m., then to 10 p.m., and then to midnight -- as authorities sought to encourage as many people as possible to go to the polls.

Final results are expected to be announced early on July 6.

The election, which was triggered by the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May, came down to a choice between veteran lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian, considered by many to be a reformist, and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Jalili serves as Supreme Leader Khamenei's personal representative on the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). He was the SNSC's secretary between 2007 and 2013, during which time he led the Iranian delegation in failed talks with the West on Tehran's nuclear program.

He represents the hard-line part of the conservative camp and has never held elected office.

Pezeshkian has been a member of parliament since 2008 and served as deputy speaker between 2016 and 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.

He has questioned Iran's methods of enforcing the hijab, or Islamic head scarf for women, and spoken in favor of negotiating with the West. But he also supports the principles of the Islamic republic and says he will follow Khamenei's policies if elected.

The outcome of the election is unlikely to result in major policy shifts, but it could have an impact on the succession to the 85-year-old Khamenei, who has been Iran's supreme leader since 1989.

Khamenei acknowledged that first-round turnout was "not as expected" but denied the lack of voter interest reflected unpopularity for Iran's leadership.

He called the vote "very important," adding, "Those who love Islam and the Islamic republic and the progress of the country must show it by taking part in the election."

Khamenei, who has the final say on all official matters in Iran, cast his vote at a mobile polling station at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran in the first minutes after voting started on July 5.

"I've heard that people's enthusiasm and interest are higher than in the first round," Khamenei said. "May God make it this way as this will be gratifying news."

One man who asked not to be identified told RFE/RL he did not participate in the first round of voting but that he cast a ballot for Pezeshkian in this round.

Sepideh, a 19-year-old university student in Tehran, told Reuters: "I will not vote. This is a big 'no' to the Islamic republic because of Mahsa [Amini]. I want a free country. I want a free life."

The 2022 death in custody of Amini, a young Kurdish-Iranian woman, sparked massive street protests throughout Iran, leading to a brutal crackdown by authorities.

At a Tehran polling station, AFP quoted Fatemeh, 48, as saying she voted for Pezeshkian, whose "priorities include women and young people's rights."

The Islamic republic has long maintained it derives its legitimacy from strong voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and deadly antiestablishment protests have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.

Pezeshkian finished the first round with 10.5 million votes, above Jalili's 9.5 million. But he also benefited from the splitting of the conservative vote, with 3.4 million votes going to parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who has since endorsed Jalili.

However, there is no guarantee that all of Qalibaf's votes would swing to Jalili since they represent vastly different groups in the highly factionalized conservative camp.

Pezeshkian's campaign sought to increase turnout by convincing people who boycotted the first round to vote in the runoff. His supporters have attempted to highlight what they see as the dangers of a hard-line figure like Jalili coming to power, arguing that his administration would enact repressive policies and further isolate Iran.

Jalili's supporters portrayed Pezeshkian as a man who is soft on the West and will make Iranian progress dependent on good relations with Western nations.

Dissidents urged the public to continue their boycott of the vote, insisting that elections in Iran are neither free nor fair and that past votes have failed to instigate change, since ultimate power lies with Khamenei.

Raisi, who many Iranians refer to as the "Butcher of Tehran" for his alleged role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 when he was Tehran's deputy prosecutor, died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other officials when their helicopter crashed on May 19.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-presidential-runoff- pezeshkian-jalili-raisi/33023683.html

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Iranians Await Winner Of Presidential Poll, Amid Closely Watched Voter Turnout Figures