Iran’s presidential election on Friday will decide not only who leads a country increasingly antagonistic to the West but also help shape succession plans for the next supreme leader and indicate whether Iranians are giving up on their system of Islamic governance.
The election pits a reformist candidate leading in the polls, Masoud Pezeshkian, who favors re-engaging with the West, against several hard-liners who want to deepen Iran’s relationships with Russia and China, fortify its alliance of anti-Israel militias and forge ahead with its nuclear program.
There is no clear favorite, and there would be a runoff between the two top vote-getters if no one wins a majority.
The election was sparked by the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month. Raisi, a hard-line cleric serving his first term, was viewed as a contender to succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is 85 years old and in poor health. Though no one outside a small circle in Iran is privy to succession talks, Iran analysts said Raisi’s death removed a safe choice.
The election is happening at a critical time for Iran. It is under heightened international scrutiny over its nuclear program, which it says is peaceful, and its military support to Russia in the war against Ukraine.
It nearly went to war with Israel in April, when the two countries attacked each other on their soil for the first time.
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@Debat3FerretGreen2yrs2Y
Unpopular Opinion, but every Iranian outside of Iran that votes in the Islamic Republic election should lose their foreign citizenship and get deported to Mashhad.
A few predictions can be made with absolute certainty.
Firstly, the winner will be a man (there are no women taking part – Iran’s ruling clerics take a dim view of the idea of a woman being allowed near the presidency).
Secondly, the new president will be someone who swears absolute loyalty to the system and ultimately the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
All of which prompts the question of why bother to have an election.
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