Iranians head to polls in election runoff to elect new president

Iranians began voting Friday in a runoff election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in June. Public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East.

Voters face a choice between the hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime parliament member who has allied himself with moderates and reformists within Iran’s Shiite theocracy.

The reformist candidate is also prominent for his Turkish identity and is known for his criticism of injustice against minorities in Iran, particularly Sunnis and Turks.

An initial round of voting on June 28 saw no candidate get over 50% of the vote, forcing the runoff. It also saw the lowest turnout ever for an Iranian election, leaving turnout on Friday a major question.

There have been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. However, potential voters in Iran appear to have made the decision not to participate last week on their own, as there is no widely accepted opposition movement operating within or outside the country.

State television broadcast images of modest lines at select polling places around the country as polls opened on Friday.