Iranians Head to Polls to Vote for New President

Polling stations across Iran opened at 8 am local time and will continue to receive voters for ten hours. However, the Interior Ministry may extend the election period if necessary.

Iranians have headed to the polls as soon as the stations opened to elect the country’s new president.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei cast a ballot as soon as the voting kicked off.

More than 61,450,000 eligible Iranian voters can take part in the ongoing elections inside the country and abroad.

The individuals born on or before June 28, 2006, are eligible to vote.

Around 59,000 polling stations have been set up across the country, including over 15,000 mobile stations.

A total of 340 polling stations have been also set up in 100 countries to enable the Iranian expatriates to take part in the election.

Forces from the Police, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Basij are tasked with ensuring security of the election.

There are four candidates seeking presidency in the polls, including Saeed Jalili, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Masoud Pezeshkian. Two other hopefuls, Alireza Zakani and Amir Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi dropped out of the race on Wednesday and Thursday.

The candidates have been singled out by the Constitutional Council from 80 applicants seeking the presidency.

The new administration, the 14th one after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, will assume power in late June or early July and hold office for four years.

The polls take place a year ahead of schedule, as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi passed away in May.

A helicopter carrying President Raisi and his entourage crashed in northwestern mountainous forests on May 19, killing the president, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six others.