Iranians are voting for a new president in an election following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, choosing from a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader at a time of growing public frustration.
Polls opened at 8am on Friday and are scheduled to close at 6pm, but the time can be extended until midnight.
The snap election coincides with escalating regional tensions due to the current war between Israel and Iranian ally Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.
While the election is unlikely to bring a major shift in the Islamic republic’s policies, its outcome could influence the succession to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader, in power since 1989.
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A hardline watchdog body made up of six scholars and six jurists aligned with Khamenei vets candidates. It approved just six from an initial pool of 80. Two contenders subsequently dropped out.
Prominent among the remaining hardliners are Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, parliament speaker and former commander of the air force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who served for four years in Khamenei’s office.
The sole comparative moderate, Masoud Pezeshkian, is faithful to Iran’s theocratic rule, but advocates detente with the West, economic reform, social liberalization and political pluralism.
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