Iran Presidential Candidates Competing in Serious Race: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for Iran’s Constitutional Council pointed to a “serious competition” in the ongoing presidential election.
Speaking to reporters after casting his vote on Friday, Hadi Tahan Nazif said “serious competitions” have been shaped amid the electoral campaigns during the past recent days.
He noted that the trouble-free process of election has been in progress since 8 am local time across Iran and in as many as 95 foreign countries.
The spokesman also expressed hope that a high turnout of voters would contribute to Iran’s dignity and might.
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.
More than 61,450,000 eligible Iranian voters can take part in the ongoing elections inside the country and abroad.
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.