Iranians will choose a new president on Friday from a field of six contenders, one of whom is a lone reformer hoping to unseat the Islamic republic’s dominant conservative group.
Although it was not scheduled to take place until 2025, a presidential election was called when ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi passed away in a helicopter accident last month.
The early election is being held at a difficult moment for Iran, which is struggling to deal with the economic fallout from international sanctions and increased tensions in the region between Israel and Hamas, Tehran’s ally, the Gaza War.
Iran launched around 300 missiles and drones toward Israel in April following the death of seven Revolutionary Guards in an airstrike in Damascus that was attributed to Israel.
Israel carried out a reported retaliatory strike near Isfahan.
Polling is also being held just five months before a presidential election in the United States, Iran’s sworn enemy and Israel’s staunch ally.
The only reformer, Massoud Pezeshkian, ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, and conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are the front-runners for Iran’s second highest position.
The other candidates are the ultraconservative leader of the Martyrs’ Foundation, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi, the incumbent vice president, and conservative Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani.
The six have conducted relatively low-key campaigns, including debates on television in which they pledged to address economic issues and presented differing opinions on Iran’s ties with the West.
The emerging “fissure between the state and society” is another issue that the incoming president will need to address, according to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.
“Nobody has presented a concrete plan of how they are going to deal with a lot of these issues,” he said.
