Iranian Presidential elections see two hardliners withdraw in bid to stack odds against reformers

PTI INTERNATIONAL- Two candidates have dropped out from Iran’s presidential election out of the six contesting candidates as hardliners strengthen their unity to form the government after Late Ebrahim Raisi. 

Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, 53, dropped his candidacy and urged other candidates to do the same “so that the front of the revolution will be strengthened,” PTI reported.

Ghazizadeh Hashemi was one of Raisi's vice presidents and  the head of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs. He ran in the 2021 presidential election and received some 1 million votes, coming in last place.

Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani  who dropped out this year had previously withdrawn from elections in 2021 in which Raisi assumed office.

Zakani said he withdrew to “block the formation of a third administration” of former President Hassan Rouhani, referring to reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, reported PTI.

Withdrawal from Iranian presidential elections are common during the final hours especially in the last 24 hours , when the parties enter a mandatory quiet period.

Iran is set for polls on Friday after Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash.

The former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the two hardliners are fighting over the same bloc. On the other hand there is  Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon who associates  himself with Rouhani and other reformist figures like former President Mohammad Khatami and those who led the 2009 Green Movement protest, PTI stated.

Iran's theocracy under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has maintained its stance of not approving any radical change in the government. However, Khamenei in recent days has called for a “maximum” voter turnout, while also issuing a  warning to Pezeshkian and his allies about relying on the United States.

Widespread public apathy has been observed in the Iranian capital over the election, coming after the death of Raisi due to helicopter crash, PTI reported.

After the promise nearly a decade ago of Tehran's nuclear deal opening up Iran to the rest of the world, Iranians broadly face crushing economic conditions and a far more uncertain Middle East that already has seen the Islamic Republic directly attack Israel for the first time. Iran also has weapons-grade levels of uranium and has enough of it to produce several nuclear weapons if it chooses.

The limited options in the election, as well as widespread discontent over Iran's ongoing crackdown on women over the mandatory headscarf, people are not showing the willingness to vote, PTI stated