DUBAI, July 5. /TASS/. The runoff of the snap presidential election will take place in Iran on Friday, with polling stations opening at 8:00 a.m. local time (04:30 a.m. GMT).
The results are expected to be known in the morning of July 6.
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and conservative contender Saeed Jalali will face off in Iran’s presidential runoff. None of the candidates has been able to get over 50% of the vote in the first round: lawmaker and former health minister Pezeshkian got 44%, while Jalali, who is the Supreme leader’s envoy to the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, received 40%.
The turnout was 40%, the lowest in the Islamic Republic's 45-year-long history. At least 4% of ballots have been spoiled.
Iranian political figures can be roughly divided into three major categories: conservatives, reformists and moderate. However, all the three groups have something in common: they call for strengthening the Islamic Republic’s statehood and view Islam as the country’s official religion.
Both participants of the runoff promised to focus on economic growth, social progress and sustainable development.
Pezeshkian favors attracting foreign investment, calls for dialogue with the West and promotes return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program. He has pledged to broaden the rights of women and ethnic minorities and criticized the republic’s obligatory requirement for women to wear hijab.
Jalali believes that his country should rely on domestic potential while combating Western sanctions. He calls for stronger armed forces and pledges to continue the foreign political course of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a plane crash on May 19. His foreign policy priorities include participation in BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization formats, the creation of Iran’s free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the development of strategic partnership with Russia and China. In his opinion, the United States should be held responsible for the withdrawal from JCPOA in 2018.
Relations with Moscow
During a meeting with acting Iranian President Mohammad Mokhber in Astana on July 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that friendly relations between Moscow and Tehran will strengthen regardless of the outcome of the presidential election in Iran. According to Putin, Moscow and Tehran "are united by the aspiration to create a multipolar world order, to respect all norms of international law, and to preserve the central role of the United Nations.".