An influential yet previously little-known member of Iran’s reformist wing or a high-ranking ultraconservative official. On Friday, Iran will choose between these two men, the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and the radical Saeed Jalili, to lead the country for the next five years.
Pezeshkian or Jalili will replace Ebrahim Raisi — who was also ultraconservative — after he died last May in a helicopter crash while returning to Tehran from an official visit to Azerbaijan. The crash also claimed the life of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Both candidates tied with a narrow margin in the first round of these elections held last week, a vote that broke a historic record for low turnout in the Islamic Republic: only about 40% of eligible voters participated. It is expected that turnout will rise a few percentage points on Friday. The official vote counts will not be released until Saturday at noon.
After years of severe economic crisis and social repression, especially following the autumn 2022 protests sparked by the killing of Mahsa Amini, a large portion of Iranians have chosen to abstain or boycott these presidential elections. In Iran, the president does not wield executive power or real decision-making authority; virtually every major decision rests with the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has held that post since 1989 and is expected to remain in place for life.
The Lesser Evil
Yet the Iranian president and his government can set the tone for domestic and international policies, and many Iranians have opted to vote for Pezeshkian as the lesser evil to prevent Jalili — the leader supported by Khamenei — from winning this Friday.
“I personally voted to stop Jalili. It would be depressing to wake up tomorrow and see him as president. It would be a horrible situation if Jalili wins this Friday, and Donald Trump wins in November,” a voter told television network Al Jazeera. “No part of the world will be safe if Jalili and Trump lead,” the man added.
Throughout the campaign, Jalili has advocated a policy of maximum confrontation with the United States. His rival Pezeshkian, by contrast, has argued for a path that reduces tensions with Washington and Israel and aims to persuade the West to lift sanctions on Iran. The keys to any such decision, however, do not lie with either candidate but with the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who embodies the ultraconservative and radical wing of power in Tehran.