Iran’s Presidential Hopefuls: Starkly Different Or Two Sides Of The Same Coin?
Reformist hopeful Masud Pezeshkian will face off against hard-line candidate Saeed Jalili in a presidential runoff on July 5, after no candidate managed to secure enough votes to win the July 28 election. The first round saw a record-low turnout for a presidential vote, with more than 60% of the electorate shunning the ballot box. Elections in the Islamic republic are tightly controlled with candidates being preselected by an unelected body dominated by hard-liners.
Saeed Jalili
The Shadow President
58 years old
- Hard-liner
- Supreme leader’s representative on the Supreme National Security Council
- Former top nuclear negotiator
- Ex-IRGC member who lost his leg in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War
Masud Pezeshkian
The Lone Reformist
69 years old
- Reformist
- Former health minister
- Lawmaker from East Azerbaijan Province
- Ex-deputy speaker of parliament