On Friday, June 18, presidential elections are being held in Iran.

On the eve of the vote, the supreme leader of the republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stressed the importance of this event for the country, calling it fateful, and urged citizens to cast their votes.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country reported that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of polling stations has been increased, as well as the duration of voting.

The department believes that these measures will help to avoid the spread of infection.

For Iranians living abroad, 234 polling stations around the world will be opened.

Recall that after the registration of candidates, of whom there were initially about 600, the Guardian Council of the Iranian Constitution approved seven applications.

However, on June 16, Said Jalili, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and former nuclear weapons negotiator, Alireza Zakani, a member of the Iranian parliament, and Mohsen Mehralizadeh, a reformist and former governor of Isfahan province, withdrew their candidacies, leaving four candidates in the race.

Among them are the head of the Iranian judiciary, Ibrahim Raisi, secretary of the Council for Determining Political Expediency and former commander of the IRGC Mohsen Rezayi, ex-head of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati and Member of Parliament Amir-Hossein Gazizade Hashemi.

After the withdrawal of Mehralizade's candidacy, Hemmati remains the only non-conservative presidential candidate.

The current President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, who has held this position since 2013, does not take part in the elections, since, according to the current legislation of the republic, the head of state cannot remain in office for more than two consecutive terms.

According to the Iran International TV channel, earlier more than 200 parliamentarians called on politicians adhering to conservative views to withdraw their candidacy in favor of Ibrahim Raisi. 

This politician is far from new to the presidential race.

He ran for the post in the 2017 campaign but lost to Rouhani in second place with 38.28% of the vote.

According to opinion polls, in the current campaign, it was he who became the favorite of the race.

According to Press TV, 57.3% of voters are ready to vote for Raisi.

The second in the ranking is Rezayi (5.8%).

Next come the reformist candidate Hemmati (2.8%) and Gazizade Hashemi (2.2%).

At the time of the poll, 18.3% of its participants were undecided about their choice, and a total of 4.6% of respondents would vote for three candidates who had withdrawn from the race.

  • Iranian presidential candidates

  • © Reuters / Getty Images

Bloomberg reported that according to a study by the Iranian Student Survey Agency, only 42% of the approximately 5,000 respondents definitely intend to vote in the elections, and 60% of them support Raisi.

Views of the candidates

According to Middle Eastern media reports, the head of Iran's judiciary, Ibrahim Raisi, enjoys broad support from conservatives and hardliners.

In particular, as noted by the TV channel Al Jazeera, Raisi positions himself as "an opponent of corruption, inefficiency and the power of the aristocracy," and also claims that he will support the nuclear deal, but believes that a strong state needs to move it in the right direction.

According to Raisi, it is necessary to fight corruption in various spheres with the help of transparency and prevention of conflicts of interest, as well as by activating the "regulatory mechanism" by the government.

Raisi also said that Iran could increase exports to neighboring countries up to $ 40-50 billion, which could contribute to the elimination of the state budget deficit.

In the third and final round of televised debates, Raisi clarified his views on the nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA).

“We are committed to the agreement, the commitments confirmed by the supreme leader.

Likewise, other signatories should be committed to their obligations, ”the Euronews TV channel quoted him as saying.

Another presidential candidate, a reformist and former head of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnaser Hemmati, openly supported the renewal of the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions during the election campaign.

He also announced his readiness to meet with US President Joe Biden, if it is in line with the policy of the Iranian leadership.

In addition, Hemmati stressed the importance of maintaining ties with both eastern and western partners.

“I believe that relations with the East and interaction with the West, especially Western Europe, are those relations that will lead to economic development,” he said.

In turn, the presidential candidate and secretary of the Iranian Council for Determination of Political Expediency Mohsen Rezayi promises to strengthen the weakened national currency, find and redistribute tens of billions of dollars from wasted budget funds, increase cash subsidies tenfold, and actively involve youth, women and marginalized segments of the population. Iran in the development of the country, writes Al Jazeera.

  • Tehran, Jun 16, 2021

  • Reuters

  • © Majid Asgaripour / WANA

Member of the current parliament, 50-year-old Amir-Hossein Gazizade Hashemi, who has been elected four times to the legislative office, for his part, promises to form a young government to lead the Islamic revolution into a second phase.

"Extremely important for the country"

Political analysts interviewed by RT note that the elections in Iran are closely watched all over the world.

“After all, the Islamic republic is one of the strongest and key players in the Middle East policy,” explained Arayik Stepanyan, a member of the Presidium of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems.

Orientalist Karine Gevorgyan recalled that the President of Iran is the second most important post in the country after the supreme leader of the republic.

“The post of the president is extremely important for the country, the fulfillment of his powers has a huge impact on the development of the state, since the president in Iran is actually the head of the executive branch,” she said.

For his part, Stepanyan noted that conservative views in Iranian society have intensified, since against the background of the reform approach followed by the current president, the United States "trampled the rules of the game" and withdrew from the JCPOA.

“For this reason, Iranian society has become more conservative, showing even greater distrust of the United States and the reformist approach.

After all, Tehran made concessions, abandoning its nuclear program for the benefit of world stability, and Washington devalued this step and left the deal, not keeping its promises, ”Stepanyan says.

From his point of view, this is precisely why Raisi's election promises received the maximum response in Iranian society.

“The citizens of Iran trust him more, because he is closer to the spiritual leader who has unquestioning authority, the people listen to him.

And in the Islamic republic this is an extremely important factor, ”the analyst emphasized.

Karine Gevorgyan adheres to a similar position.

According to her, Ibrahim Raisi has the greatest chances of winning: “This is an extremely strong figure, supported by such a powerful organization as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Taking into account that the IRGC directly and indirectly sufficiently controls the Iranian economy, in the event of Raisi's victory, the strengthening of Iran's sovereignty will continue, and at a qualitatively new level. "

  • Polling station in Iran

  • Reuters

  • © Nazanin Tabatabaee / WANA

Arayik Stepanyan also believes that if a conservative turns out to be the Iranian president, the country will continue to strengthen its positions in the region.

“If a conservative, including Raisi, wins, Iran will strengthen its support for Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority.

As for US relations in this retrospect, it cannot be ruled out that if Washington is ready for a constructive dialogue with Tehran, the tension in the Middle East will subside, ”he predicts.

In addition, Stepanyan believes that after the elections in Iran, regardless of which of the candidates wins, the nuclear deal can be restored.

“After the completion of the electoral process in the republic, the American side can intensify negotiations and make concessions to Tehran, since in reality it did not violate the agreements.

The United States will try to return to the treaty, which is beneficial to Democratic President Biden, since the JCPOA was formed precisely under the rule of the Democrats.

In addition, sanctions may be lifted from Iran, ”the analyst said.

At the same time, in his opinion, relations between Tehran and Moscow will remain benevolent regardless of the outcome of the presidential elections.

The analyst does not exclude further strengthening of Russian-Iranian ties.

“Russia has always had favorable relations with Iran, especially with its conservative part. The country traditionally resolves bilateral issues in a constructive manner, through dialogue and mutual concessions. For many years Iran did not undertake any aggressive actions against the USSR and Russia. Good and warm relations have developed between the countries, which cannot be influenced by the outcome of the presidential elections, ”Stepanyan summed up.