Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Iran Presidential Candidates Withdraw Amid Voter Apathy Ahead of Friday's Election
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 months ago on
June 27, 2024

Iran's presidential election sees strategic withdrawals and public disillusionment amidst economic challenges and social grievances, shaping a contentious electoral landscape. (AP/Morteza Fakhri Nezhad)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two candidates in Iran’s presidential election withdrew from the race as the country prepared Thursday for the upcoming vote, an effort by hard-liners to coalesce around a unity candidate in the polls to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi.

Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, 53, dropped his candidacy and urged other candidates to do the same “so that the front of the revolution will be strengthened,” the state-run IRNA news agency reported late Wednesday night.

Ghazizadeh Hashemi served as one of Raisi’s vice presidents and as the head of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs. He ran in the 2021 presidential election and received some 1 million votes, coming in last place.

On Thursday, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani also withdrew, as he did previously in the 2021 election in which Raisi was voted into office.

Zakani said he withdrew to “block the formation of a third administration” of former President Hassan Rouhani, a reference to reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian is running with the support of former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who under Rouhani reached the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Such withdrawals are common in the final hours of an Iranian presidential election, particularly in the last 24 hours before the vote is held when campaigns enter a mandatory quiet period without rallies. Voters go to the polls Friday.

Four Candidates Remain

The two withdrawals leave four other candidates still in the race. Analysts broadly see the race as a three-way contest.

Two hard-liners, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, are fighting over the same bloc, experts say. Then there’s Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon who has sought to associate himself with Rouhani and other reformist figures like former President Mohammad Khatami and those who led the 2009 Green Movement protest.

Iran’s theocracy under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has maintained its stance of not approving women or anyone urging radical change to the country’s government for the ballot. However, Khamenei in recent days has called for a “maximum” turnout in the vote, while also issuing a veiling warning to Pezeshkian and his allies about relying on the United States.

Widespread Public Apathy Around the Election

Widespread public apathy has descended in the Iranian capital over the election, coming after a May helicopter crash that killed Raisi.

After the promise nearly a decade ago of Tehran’s nuclear deal opening up Iran to the rest of the world, Iranians broadly face crushing economic conditions and a far more uncertain Middle East that already has seen the Islamic Republic directly attack Israel for the first time. Iran also now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and has enough of it to produce several nuclear weapons if it choses.

The limited options in the election, as well as widespread discontent over Iran’s ongoing crackdown on women over the mandatory headscarf, has some saying they won’t vote.

“I did not watch any of the debates since I have no plan to vote,” said Fatemeh Jazayeri, a 27-year-old unemployed woman with a master’s degree. “I voted for Rouhani seven years ago, but he failed to deliver his promises for a better economy. Any promise by any candidates will remain on paper only.”

Worshippers in Tehran at Friday prayers in recent weeks, typically more conservative than others in the city, appeared more willing to vote.

Ma0hmoud Seyedi, a 46-year-old shopkeeper, said he and his wife, alongside two young daughters, will vote,

“My wife and I have decided to vote for Qalibaf since he knows how to solve problems of the country because years of experience but my daughters are thinking about Jalili, too,” he said. “By the way, voting is a duty for us.”

Parivash Emami, 49, another at prayers, said she hoped his vote could help Iran overcome its problems.

“Qalibaf knows details of problems, the rest are either critics or promise to solve problems without offering any program,” Emami said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

DON'T MISS

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

DON'T MISS

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

DON'T MISS

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

DON'T MISS

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

DON'T MISS

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

DON'T MISS

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

DON'T MISS

Two Fresno, Clovis Trustee Races Remain Tight. Bond Measures Passing with Growing Margins

UP NEXT

UN Expert: Myanmar’s Desperate Military Ramps Up Attacks Including Beheadings, Rapes and Torture

UP NEXT

NATO and Ukraine to Hold Emergency Talks After Russia’s Attack With New Hypersonic Missile

UP NEXT

Many in Gaza Are Eating Just Once a Day, as Hunger Spreads Amid Aid Issues

UP NEXT

Norwegian Student Arrested on Charges of Spying on US for Russia

UP NEXT

A Proposed Deal on Climate Cash at UN Summit Highlights Split Between Rich and Poor Nations

UP NEXT

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

UP NEXT

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

UP NEXT

Pope to Make Late Italian Teenager Carlo Acutis the First Millennial Saint on April 27

UP NEXT

US Vetoes UN Ceasefire Resolution in Gaza Conflict

UP NEXT

Israeli Officials Demand the Right to Strike Hezbollah Under Any Cease-Fire Deal for Lebanon

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

6 hours ago

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

9 hours ago

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

9 hours ago

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

9 hours ago

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

9 hours ago

Tulare County Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening to Kill Middle School Girls, Staff

20 hours ago

Two Fresno, Clovis Trustee Races Remain Tight. Bond Measures Passing with Growing Margins

21 hours ago

Richardson Close to Cementing Northeast Fresno Council Race

21 hours ago

Visalia Motorcyclist Killed in Collision on Walnut Avenue

21 hours ago

DOGE Is a Promising Step Toward Federal Efficiency: Fareed Zakaria

22 hours ago

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor in his second admi...

35 seconds ago

36 seconds ago

What to Know About Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary

5 hours ago

What to Know About Scott Turner, Trump’s Pick for Housing Secretary

5 hours ago

Trump Taps Investor Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

6 hours ago

NATO Head and Trump Meet in Florida for Talks on Global Security

9 hours ago

Why Cranberry Sauce Is America’s Least Favorite Thanksgiving Dish – and 5 Creative Ways to Use It

9 hours ago

‘Get Somebody Else to Do It’: Trump Resistance Encounters Fatigue

9 hours ago

Anti-Vax Activists Dominate RFK Jr.’s HHS Transition Team

9 hours ago

Wing ‘Wizard’ Harry Potter to Play for Australia’s Rugby Team. Let the Puns Begin.

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend