Apathy shadows Iran vote but that doesn’t mean change won’t follow
Even if hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi wins, reviving the nuclear deal with the West could gain traction.
Khamenei tries to rally a listless electorate
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week attempted to rally a generally apathetic electorate to turn out for Friday's presidential election.
“The people’s support of the system must be shown to the enemy," he declared, as polls signal that only about 40% of the Iranian electorate will vote. The final tally is expected to be well below the 73% turnout in the 2017 election, and may be the lowest ever (as we report here).
Iranians’ apathy is fed by the persistent malaise in the economy in recent years, due in large measure to the US sanctions imposed after President Donald Trump pulled out of the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, suspending the terms of a deal that was meant to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program. On top of that, many people sense that the fix is in regarding the outcome of the elections under Iran’s theocracy.
