Under the specter of conflict with Israel, a struggling economy and social discontent, Iranians headed to the polls this Friday (28) for early presidential elections that could be the most important for the country in decades.
The sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a recent helicopter crash, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has left a leadership void. Raisi, a loyalist to the hard-line regime, was widely seen as a leading candidate to replace Iran’s Supreme Leader, 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds final authority over all state affairs.
Three conservatives are competing with a single reformist candidate for the post, after dozens of other candidates were barred from running. Of the candidates, Masoud Pezeshkian, 69, a reformist lawmaker and former health minister, Saeed Jalili, a hard-line security adviser and nuclear negotiator, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the conservative speaker of Iran’s parliament, are widely considered the front-runners in the first round. The final candidates were preselected by Iran’s Guardian Council, which reports directly to Khamenei.
Some polls have shown Pezeshkian’s popularity growing, with the rest of the conservatives split in the vote.
With information from Reuters.
Source: CNN Brasil
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