As Iranians head to the polls to select a new president, there is suddenly a sense of suspense and unpredictability.
In the Islamic Republic, elections are strictly regulated; before a candidate can be elected, they must all pass muster with a powerful committee of clerics. Furthermore, voter indifference has been pervasive lately.
However, there is a wild card this time around: reformer Massoud Pezeshkian, a former health minister and heart surgeon who has called Iran’s morality police’s tight dress regulations for women “immoral.”
Women are currently routinely disobeying the hijab’s regulations, and Mr. Pezeshkian, 69, has stated: “If dressing a certain way is wrong, then treating women and girls badly is 100 times worse.” There is no authorization in religion for confronting someone based only on their attire.
Additionally, he has pledged to work on mending fences with the West and resuming nuclear negotiations in the hopes of lifting the sanctions that have severely damaged Iran’s economy.
Former reformist presidents Hassan Rouhani and Mohammed Khatami, as well as former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, have publicly endorsed Mr. Pezeshkian.
