Iran holds runoff presidential vote pitting hard-line former negotiator against reformist lawmaker

Iranians began voting Friday in a runoff election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranians began voting Friday in a runoff election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic troubles, 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.

An initial round of voting 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 Friday a major question.

There have been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, though 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 Friday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-presidential-election-runoff-rcna160393

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