The latest | Polls open in the second round of elections in Iran to replace a president killed in a helicopter crash

Iranians will vote in a second round on Friday to replace the late president Ebrahim Raisiwho died in a helicopter crash in May in the northwest of the country, along with the Foreign Minister and several other officials.

Voters will choose between hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, who has aligned himself with those seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Internal issues that have hung over the race include a renewed repression on the mandatory use of headscarves for women and a proposal to increase the price of gasolineas well as years of economic malaise marked by widespread unemployment and high inflation.

After a record turnout in the first round of voting on June 28, it is not yet clear how many Iranians will participate in Friday’s vote. Iranian law requires a second round if no candidate receives more than 50% of all votes cast in the first round.

While the 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state, presidents can bring Iran into confrontation or negotiations with the West.

Here’s the latest:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voted in the country’s second round of elections aimed at choosing a new president for the country, after Prime President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May.

Khamenei urged people to vote and said: “God willing, people will vote and choose the best candidate.”

Last Friday’s vote had less than 40% participation.

State television showed people lining up to vote in many cities and towns. There are around 60,000 polling stations and more than 61 million eligible voters in the country of 85 million people.

Pezeshkian finished about 10% ahead of Jalili in the first round, although neither received the 50% needed to win outright.

Officially, the polls must remain open until 6 pm, although Iran usually extends elections until midnight.

Iran has two candidates who will face each other in the second round of Friday’s presidential elections.

One of them is Saeed Jalili, 58, who served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2007 to 2013. His hardline vision for Iran was criticized by opponents as being similar to “ Taliban” and risks inflaming public tensions years later. of economic hardship and mass protests.

The other is Massoud Pezeshkian, 69, who has allied himself with relatively moderate elements of the Iranian political system, including former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped achieve the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker from Tabriz in northwestern Iran. Jalili’s supporters criticized Pezeshkian’s campaign for fear-mongering, while Khamenei issued a veiled warning about U.S. overreach.

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Michael Wakin in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

Iranian presidents serve four-year terms and are limited to serving two terms. Iran’s president reports to the supreme leader, and in recent years the supreme leader’s power appears to have strengthened amid tensions with the West.

However, a president can change the state’s policies on both domestic and foreign matters. Former President Hassan Rouhani, for example, signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers with the blessing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The hard line adopted by the late President Ebrahim Raisi also had the support of Khamenei.

Iran describes itself as an Islamic Republic.

The Shia theocracy holds elections and elects representatives who pass laws and govern on behalf of its people, but the unelected supreme leader has the final say on all matters of state and the Guardian Council must approve all laws passed by parliament.

Those who led a protest movement following the contested re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 remain under house arrest, while security forces answerable only to the supreme leader routinely arrest dual nationals and foreigners, using them as pawns in international negotiations. Mass protests in recent years have resulted in bloody crackdowns on dissent.

Meanwhile, hardliners now hold all the levers of power within the country. The Guardian Council approves all candidates and has never allowed a woman to run for president. It routinely rejects candidates who call for dramatic reforms, stifling change.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the Iranian presidential elections at https://apnews.com/hub/iran.