Pre-election silence in Iran 

The election campaign for the Iranian presidential election has ended. Pre-election silence started in the country at 8:00 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m. Yerevan time).

The Election Office of Iran said in a statement that “all candidates, parties, political movements, and their supporters are recommended to refrain from running campaigns after the end of the allotted period, as well as from wearing any campaign symbol on the voting day”.

A total of five politicians will be running for president, namely Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Mayor of Tehran Alireza Zakani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili, former Minister of Interior and Justice Mostafa Pourmohammadi—all conservatives—and former Minister of Health Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist. Initially, The Guardian Council allowed six candidates to stand for the election, but Iranian Vice President Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi announced on June 26 his decision to withdraw from the race in favor of other conservative candidates.

During the two weeks allocated to the election campaign, five rounds of TV debates were held between the candidates. Each of them was dedicated to a specific topic, namely the economy, foreign policy, culture, social policy and government efficiency promotion.

Recent polls conducted throughout the election campaign show that reformist Masoud Pezeshkian is leading the race. Conservatives Jalili and Ghalibaf lag behind him.

Iran’s snap presidential election is scheduled for June 28.