Pro-reform candidate leads opinion polls as Iranians cast vote in presidential elections

This article was last updated on May 25, 2022

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As Iranians go to the polls to elect a new president on Friday, latest polls show that the only reformist candidate is leading the race.

According to the latest opinion poll conducted by the Information and Public Opinion Solutions LLC (iPOS) via telephone, Hassan Rohani holds a strong lead in the six-way Iranian presidential election with 38 percent of the votes. Based on the survey, which was carried out on Thursday, Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf is trailing behind by less than 14 points.

Another poll by the Iran News Network, Rohani was leading in the opinion polls with 43 percent of the vote until 8 June.

Pro-opposition chants have been a regular feature at the campaign rallies of Hassan Rohani and fellow moderate candidate Mohammad Reza Aref. Often, the chants call for the release of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leaders of the opposition Green Movement who have been under house arrest since February 2011.

Despite the initial lack of enthusiasm in the race, recent weeks have witnessed a sharp rise in the size and number of street carnivals and election rallies reminiscent of the 2009 presidential race.

Rohani enjoys the backing of fellow reformist candidate Mohammad Reza Aref who pulled out of the race in his favour. Iran’s former presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, have also come out to endorse Rohani’s bid for presidency.

The Islamic Iran Participation Front, one of Iran’s largest reformist parties, has also come out in support of Rohani’s bid. However, the group maintained its protest against the widely contested 2009 elections.

In the hours leading up to the 2009 vote, which were marred by massive fraud, authorities disrupted the internet connections and shut down the text messaging network in the country. However, the limitations on communications far more limited this time around.

Since voting got underway, the Iranian Cyber Army has been trying relentlessly to attack and hack sites such as Saham news, Kaleme and the Green Voice of Freedom.

In an interview with the semi-official Mehr news agency, former parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri predicted that the elections would not advance to a runoff stage.

If no candidate is able to garner 50 percent plus one of the ballots, a runoff vote will be held on June 21.

In late May, the country’s Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced that more than 50 million Iranian were eligible to vote in this year’s presidential election.

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