Runoff round in Iranian presidential election between reformists and hardliners: NPR

An Iranian man casts his vote at a polling station in Tehran during the country’s presidential election on Friday.

Hussein Peres / AFP

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Hussein Peres/Agence France-Presse

Iranians will go to the polls again next week to choose a president between a reformist and a hardline conservative.

The runoff comes after the first round of voting, held on Friday, ended with no candidate securing a majority. Under Iranian electoral law, a candidate must secure 50 percent and one vote to secure victory.

But two leading contenders emerged: the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and the hardliner Saeed Jalili.

Pezeshkian has called for greater outreach to the outside world as a way to improve Iran’s economy, while Jalili is a former nuclear negotiator with staunchly anti-Western views.

The two candidates are scheduled to compete in a second round of voting on July 5. The early elections are scheduled to choose a successor to former President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

In Iran, the Supreme Leader has the most power. But the president can still exercise influence over domestic and some foreign policies.

This upcoming election will be the second round of presidential elections in the country’s history. The first was in 2005, when hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Critics of Iran are quick to point out that the country’s elections are in full swing. It is not free or fair.

How did the first vote go?

The Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency reported on Friday that Pezeshkian received 10.4 million votes, while Jalili received 9.4 million votes.

As some expected, the hardline vote was split, while Pezeshkian is believed to have won many votes from moderate or reformist-minded Iranians.

The election also underscored widespread disillusionment among voters with Iran’s current political process. Voter turnout appeared to be unprecedentedly low in the history of the Islamic Republic, continuing a trend seen in other recent elections.

What’s at stake

Before President Raisi’s death, the hardliner was seen as a potential disciple and successor to 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Now, the prospect of who might replace Khamenei, who has the power to make most major decisions in Iran, is unclear.

Khamenei clearly does not support many of the reform ideas put forward by Pezeshkian, including seeking greater engagement with other countries.

But observers generally do not expect the election to produce much change. No candidate has proposed policies that could be considered controversial, such as addressing the strict Islamic dress code for women.