TEHRAN: Polls opened in Iran on Friday for a run-off presidential election that will test the clerical rulers’ popularity amid voter apathy at a time of regional tensions and a standoff with the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
State TV said polling stations opened their doors to voters at 8 a.m. local time (0430 GMT). Polling will end at 6 p.m. (1430 GMT), but are usually extended until as late as midnight. The final result will be announced on Saturday, although initial figures may come out sooner.
The run-off follows a June 28 ballot with historic low turnout, when over 60% of Iranian voters abstained from the snap election for a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, following his death in a helicopter crash. The low participation is seen by critics as a vote of no confidence in the Islamic Republic.
The vote is a tight race between low-key lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
While the poll will have little impact on the Islamic Republic’s policies, the president will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader who calls all the shots on top state matters.
“I have heard that people’s zeal and interest is higher than in the first round. May God make it this way as this will be gratifying news,” Khamenei told state TV after casting his vote.
Khamenei acknowledged on Wednesday “a lower than expected turnout” in earlier voting, but said “it is wrong to assume those who abstained in the first round are opposed to the Islamic rule”.
Voter turnout has plunged over the past four years, which critics say shows support for the system has eroded amid growing public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedoms.
Only 48% of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout was 41% in a parliamentary election in March.
Agencies

Agencies