The 2011 Iranian Presidential Election: A Little-Known Candidate Who Voted Hardly in a Democratic and Conservative State, or Did You Wanna Vote Hardly?

Iranian officials estimated that 30 million people turned out for the presidential election, which is considered low for a vote like this. Pezeshkian received more than 15 million votes, compared to Jalili’s 12 million.

Iranian president-elect Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and lawmaker who ran on a moderate platform, was a relatively little-known candidate. More voters went to the polls in round two than in the first, giving himPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikiPukiWikirsPukiWikirsPukiWikirsPukiWikirs

There have been calls for a boycott from the imprisoned Narges Mohammadi as there is no widely accepted opposition in the country and potential voters decided not to participate last week on their own.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when radical change was forbidden, women and people calling for change have not been allowed on the ballot.

The voting comes as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza in April, and militias in the region, including the Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, are engaged in fighting.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build — should it choose to do so — several nuclear weapons. Its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, reached by officials now backing Pezeshkian, collapsed in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord. In the time since, hard-liners have taken control of all levers of power within Iran’s government.

While Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state, presidents can bend the country’s policies toward confrontation or negotiation with the West.

The First Round of the Guardian Council Elections: The Case for a Maligned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Khamenei cast one of the election’s first votes from his residence, television cameras and photographers capturing him dropping the ballot into the box.

Pezeshkian’s supporters have been warning Jalili will bring a “Taliban”-style government into Tehran, while Jalili has criticized Pezeshkian for running a campaign of fear-mongering.

The 63-year-old Raisi died in the May 19 helicopter crash that also killed the country’s foreign minister and others. He was seen as a potential successor to the supreme leader. He was involved in the mass executions that Iran executed in 1988, as well as his role in the bloody suppression of the protests that followed the death of a woman who was wearing a headscarf.

Pezeshkian did not make any big changes to a government that leaves important matters of state to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his campaign.

At a time of heightened tensions with the West over various issues including the war in Gaza, Pezeshkian will face a government still largely controlled by hard-liners.

Iran’s Guardian Council, charged with vetting candidates, chose six candidates, five of which were hard-line conservatives. Before the vote, two candidates dropped out.

The first round of the presidential elections were held on June 28th, with incumbent Mohammad Pezeshkian, Jalili and Bagher Qalibaf all advanced to the second round.

But no candidate received a majority of votes, with Pezeshkian leading with 10.4 million votes while Jalili trailed in second with 9.4 million. Friday’s election was when they advanced to it.