Polls open in Iran's elections, ultra-conservatives direct victory
TEHRAN: Iranian voters went to the polls on Friday to cast their ballots in the presidential election, which features ultra-conservative cleric Ibrahim Raeisi, but he is determined to defeat his rivals.
It is expected that after a poor period of the campaign, the turnout will come to a new low in a country frustrated by the US economic sanctions and the Code-19 epidemic.
Ballot papers in the capital, Tehran, are small, except for those who show the stern face of 60-year-old Raees Rasi, who wears a religious turban in a black turban on his trademark.
Officials say about 60 million eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots between 7 a.m. (0230 GMT) and midnight (1930 GMT), and results are expected for another two hours, closer to Saturday afternoon. Will
The winner will take office in August as Iran's eighth president, a moderate Hassan who has served a maximum of two to four years under the constitution.
The ultimate political power in Iran, since the 1979 revolution overthrew the US-backed monarchy, has been held by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But the president of the Islamic Republic, as a high-ranking official in the state bureaucracy, also wields considerable influence in areas ranging from industrial policy to foreign affairs.
Rouhani's major achievement was a landmark 2015 deal with world powers under which Iran pledged to limit its nuclear program and refrain from acquiring an atomic bomb in exchange for lifting sanctions.
- Candidates pulled out -
But much of the prosperity and high hopes of reopening the world were dashed in 2018 when then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and launched an economic and diplomatic "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran.
Although Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, Trump has accused it of secretly looking for bombs and widespread destabilization of the Middle East through armed proxy groups. Is creating
As old and new sanctions hit Iran, trade dried up and foreign companies were forced to bid. The economy was shaken and rising prices led to repeated social unrest, which was stopped by security forces.
Iran's ultra-conservative camp - which has plunged the United States into deep trouble, labeled the Islamic Republic a "great devil" or "global arrogance" - has attacked Rouhani over a failed deal.
He won parliament early last year and is now ready to claim the presidency in a nationwide referendum that will also elect municipal and other officials.
Out of the initial field of about 600 candidates for the presidency, only seven - all men - were approved to run by the Guardian Council, a group of 12 scholars and jurists.
Prominent figures who were disqualified included Ali Larijani, a former conservative speaker of parliament. Then, two days before the election, three of the seven approved candidates dropped out.
The only reformer still running is Abdul Nassar Hemmati, a low-key technocrat who has vowed to revive the economy and, extraordinarily in Iran, has included his wife in the campaign.
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