President of Parliament. The mayor of Tehran. A heart surgeon. The race for the next president of Iran has begun

Six the candidates were approved by the Iranian theocracy to run in Friday’s presidential elections to replace the deceased President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash with several other employees in May.

Among them, the president of the Iranian parliament stands out as the most recognized figure. A little-known politician and heart surgeon is also on the ballot. He is the only reformist, while the others are more inclined towards the hardliners who support Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei without questioning and challenging the West.

And if Past elections are a guide to Iranian politicsSeveral candidates may withdraw in the last days before the vote to unite behind a unified candidate.

Meanwhile, authorities are not urging the public to vote as strongly as they have in the past, especially after a parliamentary election earlier this year that saw the lowest turnout since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Check out the candidates:

Ghazizadeh Hashemi, 53, served as one of Raisi’s vice presidents and head of the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation. He ran in the 2021 presidential election and received just under 1 million votes, coming in last place. In the debates so far, he urged the country to continue to follow Raisi’s policies and insisted that Iran does not need foreign investment to succeed, despite widespread economic challenges facing the nation now.

Jaili, 58 years old, is a Hardline politician and former senior nuclear negotiator. He ran in Iran’s 2013 presidential election and registered in 2021 before withdrawing to support Raisi. Current CIA Director Bill Burns, who has dealt with Jalili in negotiations in the past, described him as “stunningly opaque” in negotiations. He earned the nickname “The Living Martyr” after losing a leg in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. He maintains that Iran does not need to negotiate its nuclear program with the West. Although he is seen as having close ties to Khamenei, he is not considered a favorite. His campaign focused mainly on rural voters.

A 69-year-old heart surgeon, Pezeshkian is the only reformist candidate among the hard-line figures seeking the presidency. He said he would like to renegotiate with the West to try to restart some version of the 2015 nuclear deal. He put the need for the deal in economic terms, saying Iran needs to communicate with the world. Iran’s former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who served under relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani and helped reach the nuclear deal, supported him. However, analysts believe Pezeshkian would need a big turnout to win – which is unlikely, given the current apathy that dominates the nation. So far, his campaign has focused on voting among Iran’s young people, women and ethnic minorities.

Pourmohammadi, 64, is the only Shiite cleric running in the election. He served as Minister of the Interior under Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and later as Minister of Justice in Rouhani’s government. In 2006, the United States Department of State referred to Pourmohammadi as a “notorious human rights violator” for his leading role in the 1988 mass execution of several thousand political prisoners at the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. The State Department also linked him to the so-called “chain murders” of activists and others in the 1990s. He insisted that the next president must deal with the world and criticized Iran’s arming of Russia in the war in Ukraine — not because of of civilian deaths, but because he felt that Tehran was not receiving enough of a response from Moscow for his support. His campaign likely has the support of clergy and traditionalists.

O President of the Iranian Parliament, Qalibaf, aged 62, is the highest-ranking official in the theocracy to run for president. Analysts suggest he is the favorite in the campaign, with Jalili as second. Qalibaf is a former mayor of Tehran with close ties to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Many remember this Qalibaf – as a former Guard general – was part of a violent crackdown against Iranian university students in 1999. He also reportedly ordered the use of live fire against students in 2003, while serving as the country’s police chief. Qalibaf claims that he, as a strong manager, can save Iran from the crisis, borrowing from recent comments made by Khamenei. Qalibaf focused on the middle class and promised more cash handouts to the poor.

Tehran’s current mayor, Zakani, 58, withdrew from the 2021 presidential election to support Raisi. Zakani said he believes Iran can neutralize the effects of international sanctions, but must seek a diplomatic solution. He is a hard-liner who has repeatedly criticized reformists and moderates within the Iranian political system, wants to see Iran stop using the dollar as a reference currency and called on Iran to create more value-added products from its oil to increase revenue. He promised free health care for women and the elderly, as well as cash payments to poor people and the revitalization of Iran’s currency, the rial. However, he did not offer details on how he plans to achieve these goals.