Iranian moderate in poll position after voters shun first round

Masoud Pezeshkian waves to supporters on the day of the presidential election to choose a successor to Ebrahim Raisi - MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS

Iran’s old moderate candidate in the race for president will go into a run-off with a hardline former nuclear negotiator amid record-low voter turnout.

Masoud Pezeshkian, a former surgeon, won the most votes in the election on Friday, securing 10.4 million of the 24.5 million ballots cast, or 42 per cent.

His campaign has been boosted by support by frustrated liberals after every other candidate with reformist credentials was disqualified from running.

Saeed Jalili came second with 9.4 million votes, or 38 per cent.

As neither candidate secured the 50 per cent of the vote needed to secure an outright win, voters will return to the polls on Friday.

Overall turnout of 40 per cent marks the lowest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

“The result will be sent to the Guardian Council and its approval is their responsibility,” Mohsen Eslami, spokesman for Iran’s election headquarters said on state TV.

The prospect of a run-off became more likely ahead of the vote as neither Mr Jalili nor his ultra-conservative rival, former IRGC commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, withdrew from the race to unify the vote.

Mr Ghalibaf won 3.3 million votes.

In the end, voters faced a choice between three hardline candidates and the little-known Mr Pezeshkian.

Lukewarm credentials

The one-time health minister’s reformist credentials are only lukewarm – he has pledged allegiance to the policies of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – but voters desperate to snub the clerical establishment still plumped for him as their best hope.

In recent days, Mr Pezeshkian’s criticisms of the regime over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for her alleged “improper hijab” have been shared widely.

He demanded clarification from the authorities about Amini’s death, stating, “scientifically, someone can’t fall like this.”

Mr Pezeshkian said that “it should not be the case that anyone who wants to speak is labelled as anti-Islamic Republic.”

The moderate candidate has also been critical of Iran’s hijab law.

“I have never been able to, and cannot, force my children and grandchildren to dress according to my wishes, so how can we expect society to dress as we dictate? I don’t think it’s possible,” he said.

In a recent state TV interview, however, he said he would follow Mr Khamenei’s policies should he win the election. “I believe in the supreme leader, I am totally following him,” he said.

Mr Pezeshkian’s views contrast sharply with the more hardline positions of his opponent, particularly on issues such as engagement with the West and the country’s nuclear programme.

Saeed Jalili served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2007 to 2013, leading talks over the limiting weapons development that ultimately went nowhere.

“I wanted to continue negotiating while advancing the nuclear programme,” Mr Jalili told a group of students recently.

“They would ask us to stop our nuclear programme, and I would reply, why? It is our right and it will not happen,” he said.

In the 2021 presidential elections, he endorsed Ebrahim Raisi, after withdrawing just days before election day. This month’s vote was sparked by the death in a helicopter accident of the former hardline president.

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