Can a new president make a difference in Iran?

Iranians have voted in an election to decide the fate of four candidates competing to succeed President Hassan Rouhani.

Nearly 60 million voters were eligible, but there are concerns of a low turnout in a race widely expected to be won by former judge Ebrahim Raisi.

If he wins, it would put hardliners in control as the government tries to salvage the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement.

The vote is also seen as a referendum on the current leadership’s handling of Iran’s economic crisis, brought on by crippling US sanctions and worsened by the coronavirus pandemic.

But in a country run by a powerful supreme leader, is the job of a president even relevant?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Mohammad Marandi – Head of the North American Studies Graduate Program at the University of Tehran

Ali Fathollah Nejad – Affiliated scholar with Freie Universitat’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics

Mostafa Khoshchesm – Journalist and Iran affairs analyst