A reformist and ultraconservative will face off in Iran’s presidential runoff election – Washington Examiner

Iran will be having a runoff election between reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili on July 5 to determine who the new president will be.

None of the four candidates running on the ballot Friday were able to clinch more than 50% of the vote in Friday’s election, a requirement for winning the presidency. Pezeshikan collected 42.5% of the vote, and Jalili came in second place with 38.6%. 

The election was prompted by the death of late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died on May 19 in a helicopter crash. Known as the “butcher of Tehran,” Ebrahim was responsible for executing hundreds of political prisoners during the 1980s before being elected president in 2021.

With the Iranian people jaded by the integrity of their democracy, this past election boasted the lowest turnout rates since the Islamic Republic was created in 1979. A total of 24 million voters cast their ballot, a 40% turnout. 

In an effort to bolster Jalili’s chances of winning, two conservative candidates dropped out days before Friday’s election. Meanwhile, Pezeshkian was the only reformist candidate approved to run by the Guardian Council after it prevented dozens of contenders from appearing on the ballot.

Sina Toossi, an Iran analyst and senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C., told CNN that Pezeshkian may have been permitted to run in the election only as a way of boosting voter turnout. 

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“This move could be seen as a strategy to create a more dynamic and engaging election process, thereby encouraging greater public participation,” Toossi told CNN.

If elected to the presidency, Pezeshkian would have a more moderate approach to the country’s governance and could improve Iran’s relations with Western states; whereas Jalili has a history of being uncompromising with his dealings with Western powers, thus potentially escalating tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program and its involvement in the war in Gaza.