Iran votes in presidential run-off amid widespread apathy

While the election is expected to have little impact on Iran's policies, the president will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

An Iranian woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her ballot at a polling station, in Tehran (AFP via Getty Images)

Iranians have been voting in a run-off presidential election that will test the clerical rulers' popularity amid voter apathy at a time of regional tensions and a standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear programme.

State TV said polling stations opened their doors to voters at 8am local time, with voting usually extended until as late as midnight. The final result will be announced on Saturday.

The run-off follows an initial election late last month that involved historically low turnout, when more than 60 per cent of Iranian voters abstained from the snap election for a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, following his death in a helicopter crash. The low participation is seen by critics as a vote of no confidence in the Islamic Republic.

The vote is a tight race between low-key reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, a staunch advocate of deepening ties with Russia and China.

While the election is expected to have little impact on Iran's policies, the president will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's 85-year-old Supreme Leader who calls all the shots on top matters of state.

"I have heard that people's zeal and interest is higher than in the first round. May God make it this way as this will be gratifying news," Khamenei told state TV after casting his vote.

Khamenei acknowledged on Wednesday "a lower than expected turnout" last week, but said "it is wrong to assume those who abstained in the first round are opposed to Islamic rule".

Voter turnout has plunged over the past four years, which critics say underlines that support for clerical rule has eroded at a time of growing public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedoms.

Only 48 per cent of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout was 41 per cent in a parliamentary election in March.

However, the interior ministry spokesman told state TV that early reports indicated "higher participation compared with the same hour in the first round of the election".

The election coincides with escalating Middle East tensions due to the war between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its uranium enrichment programme.

"Voting gives power ...even if there are criticisms, people should vote as each vote is like a missile launch [against enemies]," Iran's Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Commander Amirali Hajizadeh told state media.

The next president is not expected to produce any major policy shift on the nuclear programme or change in support for militia groups across the Middle East, but he runs the government day-to-day and can influence the tone of Iran's foreign and domestic policy.

Election rivals Jalili and Pezeshkian are establishment men loyal to Iran's theocracy. But analysts said a win by the anti-Western Jalili would signal a potentially an even more authoritarian domestic policy and antagonistic foreign policy.

A triumph by Pezeshkian might promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism.

However, many voters are sceptical about Pezeshkian's ability to fulfil his campaign promises as the former health minister has publicly stated that he had no intention of confronting Iran's power elite of clerics and security hawks.

"I did not vote last week but today I voted for Pezeshkian. I know Pezeshkian will be a lame duck president but still he is better than a hardliner," said Afarin, 37, owner of a beauty salon in the central city of Isfahan.

Many Iranians have painful memories of the handling of nationwide unrest sparked by the death in custody of young Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in 2022, which was quelled by a violent state crackdown involving mass detentions.

"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," said university student Sepideh, 19, in Tehran.

The hashtag #ElectionCircus has been widely posted on social media platform X since last week, with some activists at home and abroad calling for an election boycott, arguing that a high turnout would legitimise the Islamic Republic.

Both candidates have vowed to revive the flagging economy, which has been beset by mismanagement, state corruption and sanctions reimposed since 2018 after the United States under then-President Donald Trump ditched the nuclear deal.

"I will vote for Jalili. He believes in Islamic values. He has promised to end our economic hardships," retired employee Mahmoud Hamidzadegan, 64, said in the northern city of Sari.

Reuters