Iran’s top leader urges high turnout in presidential vote
TEHRAN, IRAN— Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday called for a high turnout in this week’s presidential election, urging voters to head to the polls and send a message to the United States — but stopped short of saying which candidate he prefers of the four remaining in the race.
In a televised speech, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States and its allies are closely watching the vote on Friday.
He called the election a “great popular epic,” and while the region is “drowned in anxiety,” Iran is “peacefully and safely holding an election.”
“From the U.S. state apparatuses to European powers and regional countries aligned with America, to the pathetic prime minister of the Zionist regime, all are closely watching (the vote) and how and in what spirit” the Iranians will cast ballots, Khamenei said.
President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, is seeking re-election in a vote that will largely serve as a referendum on his outreach to the West, which culminated in the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Despite the deal, Khamenei — Iran’s top decision-maker — remains deeply suspicious of the United States and its intentions toward Iran.
Khamenei is believed to favour Rouhani’s main challenger, the hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said turnout is expected to exceed 70 per cent. About 56.4 million people out of a population of 80 million are eligible to vote.