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Iranian Political Economic News
Who Does Khamenei Want to Win the Presidential Runoff?
How might the Supreme Leader expect Jalili and Pezeshkian administrations to affect his agenda and interests?
The second round of the Iranian presidential election will take place this Friday, July 5. The two remaining candidates are Masoud Pezeshkian of the reformist camp and Saeed Jalili of the principlist camp.Considering that presidential election results in Iran have historically been fabricated, there is little reason to believe that the results in last week’s election and this week’s run-off were or will be representative of public sentiment, let alone actual vote totals.However, now that there are two remaining candidates, we can examine the potential election results and their implications. We can then consider which eventuality most closely aligns with the interests of the ultimate arbiter in this election process, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Context
This article will contextualize the election in relation to the regime’s efforts to avoid popular unrest by agreeing to a deal with the West that would exchange nuclear concessions for the lifting of economic sanctions.
