Iran Urges Voters to Take Part in Friday's Presidential Election

Posters of Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi are seen in Tehran on June 14, 2021. (AFP)
Posters of Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi are seen in Tehran on June 14, 2021. (AFP)
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Iran Urges Voters to Take Part in Friday's Presidential Election

Posters of Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi are seen in Tehran on June 14, 2021. (AFP)
Posters of Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi are seen in Tehran on June 14, 2021. (AFP)

Iran's president appealed to voters to set aside their grievances and take part in a presidential election on Friday that record numbers of people are expected to boycott due to economic hardship and frustration with hardline rule.

Hardline judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi and moderate former Central Bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati are the main contenders after the hardline Guardian Council disqualified several prominent candidates from running and others quit.

President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, urged Iranians on Thursday, as campaigning ended, not to let the “shortcomings of an institution or a group” keep them from voting, an apparent reference to the Guardian Council.

"For the time being, let's not think about grievances tomorrow," Rouhani said in televised remarks.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has already urged people to turn out in large numbers, saying that would help avert foreign pressures on Tehran.

Official opinion polls suggest turnout could be as low as 41%, significantly lower than in past elections.

In addition to anger over the disqualification of prominent moderates, grievances include economic hardship exacerbated by US sanctions as well as official corruption, mismanagement, and a crackdown on protests in 2019 triggered by rising fuel prices.

The accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian plane in Iran in January last year which killed 176 also undermined public trust.

“Voting would be an insult to my intelligence,” 55-year-old Fatemeh said, declining to give her second name for fear of reprisals. “Raisi has already been selected by the government regardless who we vote for.”

Prominent dissidents inside and outside the country have called on fellow Iranians to snub the election, including exiled former crown prince Reza Pahlavi and opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, under house arrest since 2011.

On the other hand, many leading reformists have rallied behind Hemmati, including former President Mohammad Khatami, arguing that a massive boycott would guarantee a Raisi win.

Under the Iranian Constitution, the supreme leader, elected for life and responsible for choosing six of the 12-member Guardian Council, holds most of the powers of the state.

Polling stations open at 7 a.m. local time and close at 2 am on Saturday. The interior minister told state TV that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, voting will take place outside at 67,000 sites across the country, with social distancing and the donning of face masks. Voters are asked to bring their own pens.



Kremlin Says Russia and US Are Preparing More Talks 

A woman walks next to Russian flags placed in front of the Kremlin on a clear sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 25 February 2025. (EPA)
A woman walks next to Russian flags placed in front of the Kremlin on a clear sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 25 February 2025. (EPA)
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Kremlin Says Russia and US Are Preparing More Talks 

A woman walks next to Russian flags placed in front of the Kremlin on a clear sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 25 February 2025. (EPA)
A woman walks next to Russian flags placed in front of the Kremlin on a clear sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 25 February 2025. (EPA)

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that preparations were being made for expert-level talks between Russia and the United States to follow up on a high-level meeting last week and an earlier call between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that there was an understanding that Trump and Putin should meet in person after thorough preparation, but said there were no details yet on when and where this would happen.

He said the two leaders could speak again by phone if needed, but there were no current plans for this.

"Contacts are being prepared at the expert level through the ministries of foreign affairs," Peskov said, without providing any further details.

Trump has expressed a desire to bring about a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible. His rapid moves to repair relations with Moscow, reversing the policy of the previous administration of Joe Biden, have raised fears in Kyiv and among its European allies that they could be sidelined.

Putin this week tempered expectations for a quick deal on Ukraine, saying that US-Russia contacts would initially focus on repairing trust between Moscow and Washington.

Peskov declined to comment on a reported minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine that Trump has said would allow the US taxpayer to recoup money that Washington has provided to Ukraine in the course of the war.

The Kremlin spokesman noted reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would visit Trump on Friday.

"Whether it will be (to sign) the aforementioned agreement or something else, we'll see. There have been no official statements on this matter yet," he said.

A source familiar with the contents of the draft agreement told Reuters on Tuesday that it does not specify any US security guarantees or continued flow of weapons, but says that the United States wants Ukraine to be “free, sovereign and secure.”