Voting has started today in the second phase of the presidential election in Iran to elect Raisi’s successor.

Voting is underway in Iran, as the country prepares to elect a successor to Ebrahim Raisi in a second round of presidential elections on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.

The re-vote comes at a time when Iran witnessed a low voter turnout in the first round, with the Interior Ministry confirming that turnout was 39.92 per cent. This was the lowest in any major election since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also urged Iranians to vote, saying tomorrow will be a “decisive stage” for Iran’s presidential election, Al Jazeera reports.

Now the final battle is between reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and hardline conservative Saeed Jalili.

Hardliners and conservatives are generally more critical of Western ties and the opening of Iran to outside influence.

Therefore, it is expected that Pezeshkian will establish greater outreach to the West to lift sanctions against Iran, while Jalili as president is expected to prioritize domestic capabilities and regional relations, and further strengthen partnerships with Russia and China.

Pezeshkian, 69, was deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020 and has been a member of parliament representing Tabriz since 2008. In the early 2000s, the heart surgeon served as health minister to former President Mohammad Khatami.

he/she is the only candidate this year who does not come from a radical or conservative background. In 2021, he/she was disqualified from running by the Guardian Council, Al Jazeera reported.

Jalili, 58, unsuccessfully contested the 2013 presidential election against Hassan Rouhani and withdrew in 2021 in favour of Raisi.

As Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s direct representative in the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Iran’s supreme leader, he/she oversaw the Iranian nuclear issue from 2007 to 2013. he/she has served on unelected committees such as the Expediency Council and continues to lead the SNSC, which he/she is suspicious of as a “shadow government.”

Ali Bagheri Kani, currently the acting foreign minister, is his/her long-time supporter. Kani has been Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator since 2021.

Both Pezeshkian and Jalili pledged to improve living standards in Iran, which is currently struggling with an economic crisis.

The elections were scheduled to be held in June next year, four years after Raisi’s election. However, the president’s death in a helicopter crash triggered a 50-day constitutional period for a new referendum.

The snap election on June 28 was held within the legally stipulated 50-day deadline for selecting a new president after a helicopter crash on May 19 killed Ebrahim Raisi and seven others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdallahian.