![](https://i0.wp.com/www.merkur.de/assets/images/34/970/34970748-ein-richtungswechsel-des-landes-in-der-innen-und-aussenpolitik-ist-auch-durch-eine-neuen-praesidenten-kaum-moeglich-1Ife.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
Press
A run-off election will decide who will be the next president in Iran. But is it even possible to change the country’s domestic and foreign policy in this way?
Tehran – In Iran The reformer Massoud Peseschkian and the hardliner Said Jalili have moved into the runoff election for the presidency. According to official information, former Health Minister Peseschkian won the most votes in the first round, but failed to gain the necessary absolute majority. The 69-year-old, who is promoting a relaxation of tensions in relations with the West, appealed to his supporters to go to the runoff election next Friday (5 July). The reformer is being opposed by the ultra-conservative former nuclear negotiator Jalili.
In the 13 previous presidential elections since the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a run-off election had only been necessary once, in 2005. According to the electoral authority, Peseschkian won a good 10.41 million votes in the first round, or around 42 percent. Jalili followed with a good 9.47 million votes and 39 percent.
Reformers in Iran remain hopeful
According to the information, the conservative parliamentary speaker Mohammed-Bagher Ghalibaf received around 14 percent of the vote, while the conservative cleric Mostafa Purmohammadi only received less than one percent of the vote. Of the four presidential candidates who ran on Friday, Peseschkian is considered the only reformer. In recent years, the camp of moderates and reformers in Iran has lost a lot of influence. The runoff election will now depend on how well Peseschkian can mobilize supporters of this course. The reform-oriented Iranian newspaper “Sasandegi” ran the headline after the election: “Long live hope.”
Peseschkian thanked his supporters and appealed to them to vote next Friday “to save the country from poverty, lies, discrimination and injustice.” “I hope that your presence will be the basis for a new voice that will bring about a change in attitudes, behavior, conversation and the distribution and allocation of resources,” he said in a video published on the website of the reform-oriented newspaper Etemad.
In the first round of voting, voter turnout was only around 40 percent – the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic. The electoral authority counted a total of over a million invalid ballots. The presidential election, originally planned for 2025, was brought forward after the conservative incumbent Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on 19 MayThe election decision is being followed with great attention abroad, as Iran is a political heavyweight in the region and is involved in several conflicts, such as the war in the Gaza Strip.
Reformers in Iran want to ease sanctions
Peseschkian had the support of reformers such as former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. This could indicate that he will pursue an important foreign policy goal of the reformers, such as the renegotiation of a nuclear agreement in order to ease sanctions against the Iranian economy and reduce tensions with the West. A complete lifting of Western sanctions, however, seems unlikely. A relaxation with Israel is likely to be difficult, as abandoning its nuclear program is unlikely to be an option for Tehran.
Peseschkian criticized harsh crackdown on nationwide protests in 2022
However, there could be movement in the country’s domestic politics. For example, Peseschkian criticized the mullah regime for its brutal actions during the nationwide mass protests that broke out following the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Amini was arrested for allegedly violating the strict Muslim dress code. But here too, it is important that the top mullahs allow demonstrations critical of the regime.
Whatever the outcome of the runoff election next Friday, the impact is likely to be limited. Political power in Iran has been held by the country’s spiritual leader since the 1979 revolution. The president is only responsible for implementing the political guidelines set by the spiritual leader. (erpe/dpa/AFP)
#change #sight #Iran #runoff #election