On June 28, local time, the voting activities for Iran's new presidential election officially began. Iran's interior ministry said there were more than 58,000 polling places in the vote. More than 61 million Iranian citizens are over the age of 18 who are eligible for this vote. There are four candidates in this general election, namely Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Kalibaf, former Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Jalili, former Iranian Health Minister Pezeshkian, and former Iranian Interior Minister Pool-Mohammadi.
Iranian elections
According to Iran's presidential election law, the presidential candidate with the highest percentage of votes must obtain more than half of all votes to win, and if all candidates do not meet this goal, the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round will advance to the second round. Iran's interior ministry announced that the results of the election will be announced on June 29, and if the second round of voting goes to the second round, the second round of voting will take place on July 5.
In this regard, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on the same day that Iran's durability, strength, dignity and reputation depend on the people, and called the election an "important political test". Each candidate said he was a representative of the people and promised to govern Iran aggressively, but they represented different Iranian factions. The election is a choice between consolidating the conservative camp's grip on the centers of power and blazing a trail for change, but the government must act according to established guidelines. It will be a highly competitive and unpredictable vote, but it will not affect the strategic decisions that Iran has already made.
Khamenei
Some experts believe that there are three main factors that affect the outcome of Iran's general election: first, the attitude of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; Second, Jalili and Kalibaf are both in the hard-liner camp, and if they fight until the last minute, it will inevitably scatter the votes of this camp and add uncertainty to the outcome of the general election. The third is the final voter. It can be said that Iran has withstood the pressure from the West, as well as the United States and Israel, at this critical moment, and in foreign policy, Iran will not succumb to the pressure of the United States and the West.
It has been 40 days since Iranian President Raisi crashed, and the international community has been paying close attention to Iran's election. You must know that in recent years, the relationship between the United States and Iran has continued to be tense, and since Biden took office, the resumption of Iran nuclear talks has been blocked, and it is difficult for the two sides to reach a consensus on differences such as the nuclear issue. During his lifetime, Raisi repeatedly criticized the United States, believing that the US hegemonic system had completely failed, and stressed that he would not compromise with the United States.
Leahy was killed
Not only that, after Raisi was accidentally killed in a plane accident, the Iranian side immediately targeted the United States with suspicion, and at that time, a former US military officer said that Raisi's crash was related to US sanctions. Because Iran has been sanctioned by the United States for a long time, it is difficult to obtain parts of the helicopter, and it is impossible to replace its old and damaged parts, and some people believe that it is the black hand of the United States.
Judging from Khamenei's statement, no matter who is elected president of Iran, he will not repair relations with the United States, which also means that the situation in the Middle East is still confusing. It is noteworthy that just before the Iranian elections, the United States again launched sanctions against Iran. A few days ago, the U.S. State Department issued a statement announcing sanctions against three Emirati entities involved in the transportation of Iranian oil and petrochemicals, and also identified 11 ships associated with these entities as frozen assets. The assets and transactions of the sanctioned targets in the United States will be frozen and restricted, the statement said.
U.S.-Iran relations
You must know that Iran's economy is heavily dependent on oil exports, and the United States blocking this export will undoubtedly deal a serious blow to Iran. Now, after the new president of Iran takes office, how to handle relations with the United States and whether he will change his foreign policy are also the focus of concern of the international community. Previously, China had reassured Iran. In a meeting with the Acting Foreign Minister of Iran earlier this month, Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out that China supports the Iranian government and people in adhering to the established domestic and foreign principles and policies, and that no matter how the situation changes, China will continue to strengthen China-Iran strategic cooperation and safeguard the common interests of both sides. This also reflects the friendly relations between China and Iran.