Field Narrows As Iranian Presidential Candidates Withdraw, Yielding To Khamenei And Raisi

(New York, N.Y.) – Earlier today, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged voters to turn out to the polls on Friday in the country’s scheduled presidential election, warning that if participation declined, it would allow opportunity for “enemies” to destabilize Iran. Khamenei attempted to appeal to Iranians preparing to sit out the election to participate by arguing that refusing to vote “does not solve problems.” His remarks were preceded by the withdrawal of two candidates from Friday’s contest: conservative hardliner Alireza Zakani, and Reformist candidate Mohsen Mehralizadeh. His remarks also included a statement that the incoming president should have the highest share of the vote and was followed by the immediate withdrawal of hardline candidate Saeed Jalili. Conservative Mohsen Rezai is expected to formally withdraw following the speech.

The Iranian regime has effectively settled the field in favor of hardline cleric and Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi, seeking to minimize the chances of a run-off. Despite the clear causal effect that the Guardian Council’s mass disqualification of candidates on voter apathy, Khamenei refuses to take responsibility, deflecting blame today on “enemies.”

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s new resource, Eye On Iran’s Presidential Election 2021, analyzes the upcoming Iranian election and outlines the records of each of the remaining candidates on the ballot. UANI’s resource, Ebrahim Raisi: Chief Justice Of Iran, explores Raisi’s decades-long rise within Iran’s judicial system in greater detail, chronicling his role at the forefront of the regime’s systemic human rights abuses.

To read UANI’s resource, Eye On Iran’s Presidential Election 2021, please click here.

To read UANI’s resource, Ebrahim Raisi: Chief Justice Of Iran, please click here.

###