Iranians voted on Friday in a contest set to hand the presidency to a hardline judge subject to U.S. sanctions, though many are likely to ignore the ballot amid anger over economic hardship and calls for a boycott by critics of hardline rule.
Senior officials appealed for a large turnout in an election widely seen as a referendum on their handling of mounting economic and social pressures, including rising prices and unemployment and a collapse in the value of its currency.
After voting in the capital Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to cast ballots, saying "each vote counts ... come and vote and choose your president". Asked which candidate he preferred, Mohammad, 32, at a polling station in a hamlet in southern Iran, replied: "To be honest none of them, but our representative in parliament says we should vote for Raisi so that everything will improve.”Supporters of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi hold posters of him during an election rally in Tehran, Iran June 16, 2021.
The new sanctions slashed oil exports from 2.8 million barrels per day in 2018 to as low as an estimated 200,000 bpd in some months of 2020, although volumes have since crept up. Iran's currency, the rial, has lost 70% in value since 2018.
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