Iranians Divided on Presidential Vote as Difficulties Mount

With just a week to go before presidential elections, Iranians are divided over whether the vote will address pressing economic issues and mandatory hijab laws.

Iranians go to the polls on June 28 to choose between six candidates – five conservatives and one relatively reformist – to succeed Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

The elections take place at a time when Iran is facing economic pressure, international sanctions and the application of the mandatory veil for women.

“They promise changes, but they won’t do much,” said Hamid Habibi, 54, a shop owner in Tehran’s busy Grand Bazaar.

“I watched the debates and the campaigns; they talk beautifully, but they need to back up their words with action,” he said.

Despite his skepticism, Habibi plans to vote next week.

The candidates held two debates, each pledging to face the financial challenges affecting the country’s 85 million inhabitants.

“The economic situation is deteriorating daily and I don’t foresee any improvements,” said Fariba, a 30-year-old who runs an online store.

“Regardless of who wins, our lives will not change,” she said.

‘No difference’

Others, like 57-year-old baker Taghi Dodangeh, remain hopeful.

“Change is right,” he said, viewing voting as a religious duty and a national obligation.

But Jowzi, a 61-year-old housewife, expressed doubts, especially about the list of candidates.

“There are almost no differences between the six,” she said. “You can’t say that any of them belong to a different group.”

Iran’s Guardian Council approved six candidates after disqualifying most moderates and reformists.

The main candidates include conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, ultra-conservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the only reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian.

Keshvar, a 53-year-old mother, intends to vote for the candidate with the most robust economic plan.

“Young people are facing economic hardship,” she said.

“Raisi made efforts, but on the ground things didn’t change much for the general public and they were dissatisfied.”

In the 2021 elections that brought Raisi to power, many voters stayed away, resulting in a turnout rate of just under 49 percent – ​​the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

‘Act humanely’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for a large voter turnout.

However, 26-year-old shopkeeper Mahdi Zeinali said he would only vote if a candidate proved to be “the right person”.

These elections come at a turbulent time, with the war in Gaza raging between Iran’s adversary Israel and the Tehran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas, along with ongoing diplomatic tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

Mandatory hijab laws remain controversial, especially since the mass protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in custody.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained for an alleged violation of the Iranian dress code for women, who are required to cover their heads and necks and wear modest clothing in public.

Despite increased enforcement, many women, especially in Tehran, defy the dress code.

Fariba expressed concern that, after the elections, “things would go back to where they were” and young women would not be able to remove their headscarves.

Jowzi, an undecided voter who wears a veil, considers it a “personal” choice and opposes state interference.

“It makes no difference who becomes president,” she said.

“What’s important is what they actually do. It’s not important to me whether they have a turban or not. They need to act humanely.”

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)