Iranians were voting on Friday in a snap election to replace the late hard-line president Ebrahim Raisi, with the race’s sole reformist candidate vowing to seek “friendly relations” with the West in an effort to boost his campaign.
The remarks by heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian came after he and his allies were targeted by a veiled warning from the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over their outreach to the United States.
Mr Pezeshkian’s comments, made after he cast his ballot, appeared to be aimed at boosting turnout as public apathy has grown in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East.
Voters face a choice between hard-line candidates and the little-known Mr Pezeshkian who belongs to Iran’s reformist movement that seeks to change its Shiite theocracy from within.
As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from the ballot while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognised monitors.
The voting comes as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups who Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build — should it choose to do so — several nuclear weapons.
While Iran’s 85-year-old Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state, presidents can bend the country’s policies towards confrontation or negotiation with the West.
But given the record-low turnout in recent elections, it remains unclear just how many Iranians will take part in Friday’s poll.
Mr Pezeshkian, who voted at a hospital near the capital, Tehran, appeared to have that in mind as he responded to a journalist’s question about how Iran would interact with the West if he was president.
“God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel,” the 69-year-old candidate said.
Israel, a long-time regional arch-enemy of Iran’s, faces intense criticism across the Middle East over its grinding war in Gaza.
He also responded to a question about a renewed crackdown on women over the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, less than two years after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide demonstrations and violent security force response.
“No inhuman or invasive behaviour should be made against our girls, daughters and mothers,” he said.
A higher turnout could boost Mr Pezeshkian’s chances, and the candidate may have been counting on social media to spread his remarks, as all television broadcasters in the country are state-controlled and run by hard-liners.
But it remains unclear if he can gain the momentum needed to draw voters to the ballot.
There have been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.
Analysts broadly describe the race as a three-way contest. There are two hard-liners, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. A Shiite cleric, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, also remains in the race despite polling poorly.
Mr Pezeshkian has aligned himself with figures such as former president Hassan Rouhani under whose administration Tehran struck the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
