Iran is awaiting the second round of presidential elections today. Candidates who represent the opposite poles of the truncated political spectrum will meet in it.
Although elections may be repeated, until one of them gets more than half of the voters’ support, the president will emerge from today’s vote, according to media estimates. According to analysts, any result will probably not change anything in Tehran’s attitude towards Israel and groups close to it in the Middle East, but the victory of a more moderate candidate could make Iran more open to negotiations with the West.
Although the policies of the new president will be reflected in foreign policy to some extent, the ultimate power in Iran’s theocracy remains in the hands of the spiritual leader.
Moderate Pezeškjan
He won in the first round of elections the most votes Masúd Pezeškján, namely 42.5 percent. Pezeškjan is less well known moderate MP, former Minister of Health and cardiac surgeon, whose name is associated with backlash against the suppression of pro-democracy protests in 2009 and police violence following the 2022 protests that erupted following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Aminí. A woman who died in custody under controversial circumstances was detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing a hijab that was too loose.
According to CNN, Pezeshkyan, who also has harsh statements against the United States, could make it easier for the West to negotiate with Iran, especially regarding the failed nuclear deal, the end of which put the country back on the path to developing a nuclear program and provoked further sanctions from Washington. At the same time, the sanctions are hitting the Iranian economy hard, the inflation rate has not fallen below 30 percent for five years. Pezeskyan also opposes the application of faith through force, which he called “scientifically impossible”, and also speaks more to women and minorities.
Masúd Pezeškján | source: Profimedia
Unexpected conservative candidate Jalili
On the other side is Said Jalili, who won 38.6 percent of the votes in the first round. This an ultra-conservative politician, a former member of the Revolutionary Guards and a former diplomat claims that “the enemy must regret imposing sanctions (on Iran)”. Western threats must be turned into opportunities by the country, and according to him, Iran overall should not rely on the West for its progress. The spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also identifies with this.
The first round of elections at the end of June was carried in spirit voter apathy. At 40 percent, turnout was the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
According to The Guardian, Pezeškyan’s task in recent days was to convince voters that he can be the bearer of change. He said in a televised debate on Monday that Iran must open its doors to foreign investment, and later released a nearly half-hour long video of him debating with a group of young people. They told him that they were studying so that they could leave the country, which, according to them, cannot be saved by democracy.
On the other hand, according to analysts, Jalili is trying to soften his image as a political hawk and unite voters who voted for other, less successful candidates of the conservative wing in the first round.
Said Jalili | source: Profimedia
This time too, women cannot run for the presidency. The rule, according to the American institute Atlantic Council, is based on Article 115 of the Iranian constitution, which specifies who can run for the presidency. It contains an Arabic term that can be interpreted as “political man” or “political figure”.
Doubts that the presidential election can fundamentally change the situation in the country are reflected not only by the low voter turnout in the first round, but also by the words of people who spoke to the Western media.
“(After the protests), there were so many promises, but none of them were kept. Instead, they went back to enforcing the hijab and dragging us to police stations… politics is meaningless,” one of two young women in a Tehran cafe told the Guardian, neither she wasn’t wearing a hijab. “I also know religious people who won’t vote. It doesn’t matter if it’s Jalili or Pezeshkyan, the president is just a puppet,” said the second woman.
“If Tehran is holding its breath right now, it’s not because of the tension over the election result, but because of the smog that traffic jams release into the capital in the summer,” The Guardian comments on the situation at the beginning of its report.
However, not all respondents showed the same apathy. “We cannot become a closed society like North Korea. Iran’s entire history is one of openness to both Asia and the West. We are a country of different cultures and ethnic groups. We need the change that Pezeškján represents,” said an unnamed engineer working in an oil company.
Source: zpravy.tiscali.cz
