Iran election: As young lose hope, a reformist runs for president

Many Iranians have lost hope of any meaningful change being delivered through the ballot box.

“I won’t vote this year,” a 70-year old woman in Tehran, who has previously voted for reformist candidates, told the BBC. “I know nothing will change. The economy is in such a dire state and a generation of young people now just want to leave Iran.”

Azad (not her real name), a women’s rights activist jailed during the protests, described it as an “electoral circus”.

“When the puppeteer is a single person named Khamenei, it makes no difference what name comes out of the ballot box,” she told me over a social media app. “At the peak of the unrest, people repeatedly chanted this slogan in the streets: ‘Reformist, conservative, the game is over’.”

Some believe that the clerical establishment only allowed Mr Pezeshkian to stand as part of an effort to boost turnout.

Azad described it as a “game” being played by the regime. “We don’t trust them and we don’t want to be manipulated again.”

Several people in Tehran I have spoken to over the past few days have echoed that view.

“It’s a duty to vote but I won’t,” a law student told the BBC. “Because all previous elections showed none of the elected presidents made anything better for people.”

But others may be enticed to the polling station by the small glimmer of hope for change that Mr Pezeshkian represents for liberal-minded Iranians.

“I’ll be voting for Pezeshkian,” Maryam, 54, from Tehran says. “I believe that change can only come from inside Iran – through reform.”

She likes the fact that his background is not in the security forces and that he’s “clean”, with no allegations of corruption against him.

She also hopes he can improve Iran’s relations with the outside world, and believes he will win.

If he does, there is a huge question mark over what room for manoeuvre he will have.

“Pezeshkian is a reformist in name only,” says Sanam Vakil of think-tank Chatham House.

“He supports the Islamic Republic and is deeply loyal to the supreme leader. His participation could potentially boost public turnout and increase enthusiasm, but one should not expect much more than a difference in tone should he be elected.”