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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe six presidential candidates, seen in a handout photo from state television\u00a9 MORTEZA FAKHRINEJAD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel after an air strike in Damascus blamed on Israel killed seven Revolutionary Guards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel carried out a reported retaliatory strike near Isfahan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polling is also being held just five months before a presidential election in the United States, Iran’s sworn enemy and Israel’s staunch ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading contenders for Iran’s second highest-ranking office are conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, and the sole reformist, Massoud Pezeshkian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The others are conservative Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani, cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi, and incumbent vice president Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi, the ultraconservative head of the Martyrs’ Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The six have staged largely low-key campaigns, which included televised debates where they vowed to tackle economic challenges and offered varied views on Iran’s relations with the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group says the new president will also have to tackle the challenge of the deepening “fissure between the state and society”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Nobody has presented a concrete plan of how they are going to deal with a lot of these issues,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– ‘No way I’m voting’ –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields the ultimate authority in Iran, urged “high participation” on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, voters shunned the polls after many reformists and moderates were disqualified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The turnout then was just under 49 percent — the lowest in any presidential election in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People appear divided over whether voting will mean any key concerns being addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include the mounting effects of soaring inflation and the decline of the rial against the dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There’s no way I’m voting,” said Neda, an engineer who gave only her first name, in northern Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“No matter who takes the post, none of them is sympathetic with the nation. My vote won’t affect anything,” she told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In contrast, 60-year-old housewife Jaleh said she was rooting for reformist Pezeshkian, who comes “from the people” and could address unemployment and poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reformist figures including former president Mohammad Khatami and ex-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have endorsed Pezeshkian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, some Iranians view the 69-year-old reformist as lacking government experience — he only served as health minister about 20 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the main contenders, Ghalibaf is a veteran politician and former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, ideological defenders of the republic after the 1979 revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Dress code concerns –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jalili, an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator known for his inflexible stance towards the West, seems to be attracting hardline support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alireza Valadkhani, a 35-year-old tax consultant, told AFP he will vote for Ghalibaf as he “is the only one who can help Iran in its current situation”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One concern among voters is whether a new president will mean a potential change to the contentious hijab law for women, particularly since the mass protests triggered by the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained for allegedly breaching Iran’s dress code which makes women cover their heads and necks and wear modest clothing in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the protests, women have increasingly flouted the code. But police have toughened controls in recent months on those who ignore the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the candidates have been cautious in the televised debates, saying they generally opposed the use of violence against those who do not wear the mandatory headscarf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For 40 years, we have sought to fix the hijab, but we made the situation worse,” Pezeshkian said in campaigning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For many women, the idea of a change to the hijab laws seems far-fetched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is hard for the candidates to fulfil their promises” on this, said 31-year-old Maryam, who also gave only her first name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neda said: “The hijab law will never be lifted since this is the Islamic republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I don’t think any president would be willing to change this law.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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