Hello, reporter. See, Andrew Hilly has just got back from
Tehran and he joins us now live in the studio.
Good to have you with us,
Andy. Masood Possession was the outsider going into this race.
Could he effectively become Iran's new president?
Well, he could indeed. Masood Possession the outsider at the
start of this election campaign now facing off against Sai
Jalili in
Friday's second round run off vote.
So who is this man who is Masood position?
Well, he was as we mentioned there,
he is the sole reformist in the running.
He is a former health minister.
In 1994, he lost his wife and one of his
children in a car accident.
So Iranians have come to admire him for his resilience.
He never remarried after that
Member of parliament for Tabriz and backed by two former
reformist presidents.
However, Stewart, we need to qualify what reformist actually means
within the context of an Iranian election.
And because there's only so far you can go,
of course, all the reformist candidates as well as the
conservative candidates,
of course, have to pledge allegiance to the supreme leader.
They have to work within the confines of the existing
system.
Otherwise they simply wouldn't be allowed
to run. However, what Massoud possession has done,
which does set him apart slightly from the other candidates
and from Saeed Jaleeli in this case,
he's is he has a criticised
quite vehemently Iran's morality police.
He's criticized attacks on women and that has struck a
chord,
I think with a lot of
female voters. And he has said that he would like
to
open, reopen dialogue with the West to undo the damage
caused by Western sanctions.
Now also noteworthy if Masood possession wins is that it
would buck a trend that's held since
1989 when Ali Khamenei became the Supreme Leader.
And that's the trend of these eight-year cycles.
You're going to see that now on your screen
eight-year cycles of conservative administrations followed by reformist administrations.
And that has held firm that trend since
1989 right down until the last conservative administration we saw
with Ibrahim
Raisi. Now on the other hand,
if Saeed Jalili were to win,
he is hardline conservative candidate,
he's very close to Ali Khanini,
fiercely loyal to the supreme leader.
Well, that would no doubt signify the continuation of that
trend with yet another conservative administration.
As I said at the top,
you were in Tehran just a week ago covering that
first round for us.
Was there much enthusiasm, any enthusiasm for the vote?
Well, Stewart, in the lead up to
the first round vote, I think voter turn out was
a huge concern for the Iranian
authorities, everyone from the candidates to the supreme,
the supreme leader urging Iranians to cast their ballots.
Now our team on the ground in Tehran covering this
story,
What we noticed was I think a neat divide between
Iranians, on the one hand,
very keen to participate and on the other hand Iranians,
particularly young people who'd already decided that the elections were
a ploy,
a show put on by the ruling authorities.
Every candidates priority is to obey the supreme leader.
So it won't change much for us because they'll do
what he wants.
Inflation is out of control and it's having an impact
on every sector.
I think it's better to come together and vote because
it's in our own interest and the interests of the
government.
For a long time we had faith in them.
I hope they keep their promises.
The economic situation is very hard for young people.
I understand their suffering. That said,
they're wrong to sit it out.
We must come together and vote.
Equality is one of the most important issues for Iranian
women.
That will continue until we purge our society,
our laws and our culture of machismo.
Sir Stewart, as I mentioned,
turn out a big issue for
the Iranian authorities, always has been,
They've always insisted on high turn out because it gives
the system legitimacy.
Last Friday, during the first round of voting,
me and my team, we were inside the mosque that's
attached to Ali Khamenei's office complex,
watching him cast his ballot.
And after he cast his ballot in that very heavily
fortified compound,
he spoke to reporters who had gathered.
And he again insisted on the need for a high
turn out because he said it gives the Islamic Republic
dignity, It gives it pride and it it ensures its
reputation is held high as well.
Now, what about Election Day itself?
Well, we spent the day in various polling stations speaking
to voters,
and they told us what their top concerns were.
I don't think the issue of voting itself should even
be up for debate.
It goes without saying, it's my duty.
I expect the next president to pick up where late
President Ricey left off
with regards to both domestic and regional foreign policy.
I want to make changes and I think that by
voting is the first step to do it well.
I'm hoping that the situation will be better for women
in Iran
and also I think some of the policies have to
be changed and I hope that
the person I voted for could change them.
But the big story here was at the end of
the day the turn out because it didn't go up,
it went down to 40%,
the lowest level since the
1979 Islamic Revolution. And this is significant.
You can see here how it's been steadily falling since
2009. This could lead to a crisis of legitimacy because
these elections,
they not just contests between reformist and conservative candidates,
they can also be interpreted as referendums on the Islamic
Republic itself depending on the level of voter turn out.
So the elections though, despite everything you said,
Andy there, I mean, they're very,
very tightly controlled, aren't they?
Just explain to us how they actually work.
Yeah, I think it's it's always very important to remind
viewers exactly how Iranian presidential elections work.
It's no secret that they're tightly controlled.
All the presidential candidates are vetted beforehand by the Guardian
Council.
This is a body that was set up in the
aftermath of the Islamic Revolution to ensure that candidates to
elected bodies
comply with the precepts of the revolution.
And so it's a 12 member clerical body.
Six members are appointed by the supreme leader,
another six appointed by the head of the judiciary,
who is himself appointed by the supreme leader.
So a lot of power in the hands of the
Supreme leader.
In practical terms, what it means is that many candidates
who are seen as two reformist are filtered out.
In this year's presidential election,
out of the 80 candidates who applied,
six were approved and only one of those is considered
a
reformist. And this is one of the reasons Iranians have
cited for not wanting to participate because it feeds into
the perception
of the candidates only doing what the Supreme Leader wants.
You know, others who want to vote
insist that it's their duty to do so.
They say that it strengthens the image of Iran,
and not voting would weaken Iran in the eyes of
its adversaries.
Either way, these elections are important for two reasons.
For a start, because they'll set the tone of Iranian
politics and Iranian foreign policy in the years to come.
And secondly, because for observers,
they serve as a useful bellwether,
an indicator of the of the direction in which Iran's
rulers are trying to push the country.
Lot to play for then in this vote,
of course, on Friday. Andy,
thank you very much. Andrew Hillier reported just back from
Tehran for us here on France 24th.