Iranian presidential vote: lone reformist candidate faces uphill struggle

The one reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential election, a 69-year-old doctor who raised his three children alone after his wife died in a car accident, faces an uphill but not impossible battle to convince a disenchanted Iranian electorate that he represents a chance for credible change.

The cardiac surgeon from West Azerbaijan province was the health minister under president Mohammad Khatami from 2001 to 2005 and tried to improve rural medical services. Before this, he was president of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Pezeshkian has already won the support of the reformist foreign minister, Javad Zarif, and most of the reformist movement, but many in Iran – especially younger voters in urban areas – have turned away from politics.

The regime is said to hope that the inclusion of a reformist in the field will get turnout back above 50%. It also increases the chances of a second round, which is required if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in the first round. Two reporters who exposed corruption – including allegations against Ghalibaf – were jailed on Sunday. Yashar Soltani was sentenced to 14 months in prison and Saba Azarpeik was sentenced to two years. Soltani, with 350,000 followers on X, has been a thorn in Ghalibaf’s side for years, exposing alleged corruption during his time as the mayor of Tehran in 2016.

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