What you need to knowExBulletin

ISTANBUL Iran is holding elections on Friday to choose a successor to its president, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

Iran's critics are quick to point out that the country's elections are not free or fair, and the unelected supreme leader holds the most power. However, the president is the most elected official and can influence domestic and foreign policies.

Here are some of the key things to know about the Iranian presidential election.

When are the elections in Iran?

Voting in Iran begins on Friday, June 28, at 8:00 a.m. and polling stations are scheduled to close at 6:00 p.m. local time. The results may start coming out on Saturday.

These are not regularly scheduled elections and were not supposed to happen until next year. But the government called what are known as early elections after the May 19 helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi, as well as the foreign minister and other officials.

Mohammad Mokhber, who was appointed acting presidentis not one of the candidates.

Who is running for president of Iran?

of Iran Guardian Counciltasked with vetting candidates, had whittled a long list of hopefuls down to just six candidates: five hard-line conservatives and one reformist.

But on the eve of this week's vote, two candidates left the race, according to Iranian news media. One is Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, head of the Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, who had served as one of Rais's vice presidents. The other is the mayor of the capital Tehran, Alireza Zakani. Nor is it reformist.

That leaves four candidates remaining.

Mohammad Bagher Kalibaf:62-year-old Kalibaf is the speaker of the Iranian parliament and former mayor of Tehran. He has extensive military connections and was seen early on as the leading candidate.

Said Jalili: A hardline conservative and former nuclear negotiator with strong anti-Western views, Jalili, 58, is a veteran of the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, in which he lost a leg. Before that, he was a member of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Masoud Pezeshkian:The only reformist candidate is also the oldest at 69. He has called for greater outreach to the outside world as a means of improving Iran's economy.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi: The 64-year-old is the only Shiite Muslim cleric running in these elections. He has served in Iran's Ministry of Interior and Intelligence, among others.

Why is the result important?

For Iranian hardliners, the goal is to maintain their grip on the presidency, and critics say the Guard Council has laid the groundwork for that to happen. This is not the same as holding power in Iran, the power to make most major decisions rests with the supreme leader.

But with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has been in power for 85 years now, there is extensive speculation who can replace him. The late President Raisi himself was considered a protégé of Khamenei and a possible successor.

Reform-minded voters would like to see a surprise presidential victory for their candidate, although in recent Pezeshke campaign appearances, some people, including young voters, have been disappointed by his positions.

However, there are signs that Iran's supreme leader wants to send a clear message that even the relatively mild reformist ideas advanced by Pezeshkian, such as greater engagement with other countries, are unacceptable. Khamenei singled out the reformist candidate for criticism when he said that those who believe that all roads to progress come from the United States should not be supported.

Barring the unexpected, observers do not predict many changes will emerge from this vote.

Neither candidate, for example, promises to pursue policies that would be controversial, such as addressing the strict Islamic dress code for women that led to the arrest of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022 by the so-called morality police Iranian. Her death in custody, which a The United Nations mission has found to be illegal, sparked nationwide protests seen as the strongest threat to the regime since it came to power.