Reformist and wants to be friends with the US: the winner of the presidential race in Iran has been named

It is noted that the opponent received less than 50% of the votes.

Iran’s only reformist presidential candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, won the presidential election that was called after the death of Ibrahim Raisi . In the second round of the presidential election, Pezeshkian won 53.3%, while his opponent, conservative Saeed Jalili, received 44.3%.

Bloomberg writes that the elections took place during a period of unprecedented opposition to Iran’s ruling clerical establishment, as well as against the backdrop of unrest and conflict in the Middle East.

Coin toss

A record low turnout of around 40% in last Friday’s vote underscored the crisis of legitimacy facing the Islamic Republic and its supreme ruler, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Large-scale demonstrations and a violent uprising in 2022 have enraged ruling clerics and forced security forces to suppress dissent as much as possible.

Underscoring that the protests are still relevant to many voters, several families of those killed by Iranian security forces during the unrest have taken to social media to publicly boycott the election.

The vote was essentially a coin toss, as both candidates had a likely path to victory.

The two candidates who failed to make it to the second round, both hard-line candidates, called on their supporters to back Jalili in the second round.

Hardheaded

But there were signs that conservative and hardline political factions were divided over who to support.

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the current speaker of parliament and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who came third in the first round, told his supporters to back Jalili. However, several Iranian newspapers later suggested that his supporters were divided, with many more likely to back Pezeshkian, fearing that Jalili’s policies would be bad for the economy and lead to Iran’s further isolation.

Khamenei has not publicly endorsed any of the candidates, but in his speech he advised voters to stay away from those who believe the country would be better off if it cooperated with the United States.

Raisi’s death – top news

Ibrahim Raisi died in a plane crash on the evening of May 19. The helicopter carrying the Iranian president crashed in a mountain forest near the border with Azerbaijan.

Weather may also have played a role in the crash – Iranian authorities said efforts to locate the crash site were hampered by fog, wind and heavy rain.

(C)UNIAN 2024