Iran goes to polls to elect new president at time of high tension

Voter turnout has fallen in recent years due to public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on freedoms

Iranians are voting in a snap election to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash earlier this year – with voter apathy the key factor.

Voters face a choice between hardline candidates and the little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon. As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from running, while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognised monitors, all at a time of growing public frustration.

More than 61 million Iranians are eligible to vote, but turnout remains a key question with a mostly youthful population growing increasingly resentful of political and social curbs. Critics of Iran's rulers say the low and declining turnout of recent elections shows the system's legitimacy has eroded.

Just 48 per cent of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Mr Raisi to power, and turnout hit a record low of 41 per cent in a parliamentary election three months ago.

Former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The election comes as tensions escalate due to the war between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. There has also been increased Western pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

Mr Pezeshkian, who voted at a hospital near the capital, Tehran, responded to a journalist's question about how Iran would interact with the West if he was president by saying.

The remarks by MrPezeshkian come after he and his allies were targeted by a veiled warning from the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over their outreach to the United States.

Mr Pezeshkian's comments, made after he cast his ballot, appeared to be aimed boosting turnout as public apathy has grown pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes and mass protests. He seemed to hope that invoking the possibility of Iran emerging from its isolation would motivate people otherwise dissilusioned with Iranian politics.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (EPA)

The election is unlikely to bring any major reforms in the Islamic Republic's policies, but its outcome could influence the succession to Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran‘s 85-year-old supreme leader, in power since 1989.

The supreme leader has urged for a high turnout to give Iran’s rulers legitmacy. "The durability, strength, dignity and reputation of the Islamic Republic depend on the presence of people," Khamenei told state television after casting his vote. "High turnout is a definite necessity."

In the past few weeks, Iranian activists have taken to social media to call for an election boycott, saying it would legitimise the Islamic Republic, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement protests who remains in house arrest, also has refused to vote with his wife, his daughter said.

Three candidates are hardliners andthe moderate is Mr Pezeshkian. There's been criticism that Mr Pezeshkian represents just another government-approved candidate. One woman in a documentary on Pezeshkian aired by state TV said her generation was "moving toward the same level" of animosity with the government that Mr Pezeshkian's generation had in the 1979 revolution.

Initial results are expected to be announced on Saturday, but due to manual counting of ballots final results may not be declared until Sunday.

Just 48 per cent of voters participated in the 2021 election and turnout hit a record low of 41 per cent in a parliamentary election three months ago (AP)

If no candidate wins at least 50 per cent from all ballots cast, a run-off round between the top two candidates will be held next Friday.

The next president is not expected introduce any major policy shifts on Iran's nuclear programme or support for militia groups across the Middle East, since the supreme leader decides top state matters.

However, the president can influence the tone of Iran‘s foreign and domestic policy.

The most prominent hardliners are Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, parliament speaker and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, and Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who served Khamenei's office.

All four candidates have vowed to revive the sluggish economy, troubled by mismanagement, corruption and sanctions.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report