Two Candidates to Compete in Iran's Presidential Run-Off

The daughter of Mousavi and Rahnavard, who have been under house arrest since 2011, announced on Friday that her parents would abstain from participating in the presidential election. Meanwhile, Karroubi was photographed casting his ballot, and his son had previously confirmed his endorsement of Pezeshkian.

The Green Movement sprang up in 2009, when in a dubious presidential election Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was unexpectedly was announced the winner, triggering protests. Mousavi and Karroubi who were running against Ahmadinejad were later put under house arrest after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei denounced then as "seditionists."

This is while the relatively moderate Pezeshkian's candidacy is seen by many as an attempt to create an illusion of competition and boost historically low voter turnout, as witnessed in the 2023 parliamentary elections, where turnout hit a record low since 1979.

Iran's un-elected election watchdog, the Guardian Council allowed five conservative-hardliners and one reform-minded candidate to run. Two hardliners dropped out and four candidates remained.

Activists also announced that while authorities brought a ballot box to Ward 4 of Tehran's Evin prison, housing numerous political prisoners, the prisoners abstained from voting.

Many, including several students, women's and youth organizations, and civil and political activists, have called for boycotting the presidential election. Over 500 teachers, union activists, and cultural figures publicly declared their abstention. Also, notable figures such as imprisoned Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi criticized the upcoming election, denouncing it as a facade orchestrated by an “oppressive regime.”

Friday's presidential election is the first after the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests in 2022, which marked a significant demand for secular governance, human rights, women's rights, and rational foreign policies in Iran.

Last year, following the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement that was triggered following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini while in the custody of the so-called morality police, Mousavi called for the end of clerical rule, which over 400 political activists and journalists supported. The state's subsequent killing of at least 550 protesters during its crackdown has been labeled a crime against humanity by a UN fact-finding mission.

In London, outside the Iranian consulate where voting for Iran's presidential election was underway on Friday, activists confronted voters, questioning their decision to participate after the bloody 2022 nationwide protests in Iran. "How can you vote after all these people were killed? You legitimize the regime by doing so," one protester was heard saying in a video shared on social media.

Metropolitan Police arrested two voting individuals outside the consulate amidst the tension. Demonstrators displayed images of victims from nationwide protests in Iran, notably from the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement, which was sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. The subsequent crackdown, resulting in the deaths of at least 550 protesters, has been labeled a crime against humanity by a UN fact-finding mission.

As reported by Mohsen Moheimany, an Iran International journalist who was present at the event, the arrested voters engaged in aggressive behavior and verbally attacked the protesters.

Several videos circulating on social media have documented the clashes, including one where a voter in London is seen threatening the protesters.

Also, there were reports that some protesters and voters verbally confronted one another in Paris.

The protesters equated election ink to the "blood of the youth," using the analogy as their central slogan. Election ink is typically applied to voters' forefingers to prevent electoral fraud.

Protests erupted in numerous global cities, including Bern, Amsterdam, Melbourne, Oslo, The Hague, Vienna, Stockholm, Manchester, Auckland, Sydney, Washington, and Hamburg, as demonstrators gathered outside Iranian embassies and polling stations to denounce participation in the presidential election.

Among the demonstrators in London was Azemat Ajdari, whose sister was a victim of flight PS752. This flight, which departed from Tehran amid military activity, was downed by the IRGC in 2020, killing all 176 passengers aboard.

Ajdari, positioned on the opposite side of the street facing the Iranian consulate, expressed to Iran International, "The street we are standing on symbolizes the sea of blood that separates us from the supporters of the Islamic Republic."

"We are here today because the people of Iran are subjected to the tyranny of a regime that has erected a barrier around them, stifling their voices and preventing them from being heard by the world. Our presence aims to amplify the people's voices and demonstrate that this government does not represent us," Ajdari elaborated.

Fariba Balouch, a human rights activist and another protester, shared with Iran International, "This protest stands against the Islamic Republic's facade of democracy. By being here, we stand in solidarity with the families of the victims, those whose children were killed by this regime, and all victims, including those from Zahedan's Bloody Friday."

On September 30, 2022, security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchestan, marking a day known as Bloody Friday. This incident resulted in the deaths of at least 105 civilians, including 17 children.

During protests in Hamburg, Fardin Mafghodi, who was shot in the back and hands during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement and is now confined to a wheelchair, told Iran International, “Anyone who votes effectively buys bullets for the Islamic Republic to target people like me.”

Mojtaba Elhani, a political activist at the Berlin protest, stated to Iran International, “The blood of our youth obstructs the path to the polls. We have only one vote, and that is to overthrow the establishment.”

Faramarz Bahar, a political activist and organizer of the gathering in Paris, also told Iran International, “We want to show the regime that we do not care about the political factions within the system, whether reformist or fundamentalist. Our message to the Islamic Republic is clear: we have not seen justice, and we will not vote again.”

Known as the Baqiatallah Headquarters, this apparatus works closely with the Intelligence Ministry to strategically influence the current snap election to replace former President Ebrahim Raisi, the NGO reports.

UANI says its report marks the first clear exposure of these methods of electoral manipulation.

Titled “Engineering Minds and Votes,” the 34-page report is based on original material from inside the IRGC's Baqiatallah Headquarters, including lectures, textbooks, written presentations, and speeches.

Kasra Aarabi, one of the study's authors, notes that the group was established in 2019 with the explicit objective of realizing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s vision of an "ideal Islamic government and society."

The group, connected to the Office of the Supreme Leader, leads an initiative as part of Khamenei’s broader five-stage doctrine to achieve this goal.

That reportedly involves a five-year plan aimed at creating a regime-led "insider civil society" by recruiting and training four million Iranians across 800,000 groups, designed to influence and control the population.

The report also reveals that the Baqiatallah Headquarters is connected to the Office of the Supreme Leader and leverages resources from other agencies to execute its comprehensive "Middle Ring" strategy.

The five-year plan aims to create a regime-led "insider civil society" by recruiting and training four million Iranians across 800,000 groups, designed to influence and control the population to achieve Khamenei’s doctrine.

While election rigging in the Islamic Republic is not new, most famously in 2009, Aarabi says that the IRGC’s Baqiatallah Headquarters has reached "unprecedented levels of electoral rigging" in recent years.

Using tactics such as election engineering and cultural manipulation to secure the regime’s preferred outcomes and suppress opposition, the shadowy group has reportedly been instrumental in executing Khamenei’s vision. Traditionally, the members of the Guardian Council, selected by the Supreme Leader, are in charge of candidate eligibility.

UANI’s analysis, however, shows that the Baqiatallah Headquarters is now a key player in controlling narratives, vetting candidates, intimidating voters, and manipulating vote counts.

Affiliates of the covert group take on roles in election monitoring and polling stations to directly influence outcomes.

Operating at a granular level, the Baqiatallah Headquarters plays a critical role in vetting candidates.

Agents gather detailed intelligence on potential candidates, file reports to the IRGC intelligence, which processes and shares the data with the Guardian Council for final candidate eligibility decisions.

The Headquarters also reportedly runs targeted smear campaigns against candidates not aligned with Khamenei's preferences, ensuring only loyal candidates are elected.

Additionally, it supports IRGC’s cyberspace operations, including trolling social media, spreading misinformation, creating divisions among opposition groups, and trending pro-regime hashtags.

During the March 2024 parliamentary vote, former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was recorded implicating Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Baqiatallah Headquarters, in orchestrating election engineering.

Zarif disclosed that Jafari was "behind everything," including preparing the entire candidate list for the parliamentary elections.

The report calls for the US and its allies to immediately sanction the Baqiatallah Headquarters, its leadership, affiliates and apparatus.

Kanaani expressed his disapproval on Friday, stating, "The meddling statements from the US regarding our presidential elections are a blatant and outrageous intrusion."

US acting special envoy for Iran, Abram Paley asserted on Wednesday through his social media account that there is "no expectation of free and fair elections or fundamental change in Iran’s direction."

Kanaani went on to say, "The US authorities persist with such baseless remarks, but the Iranian people will respond vigorously with their active and enthusiastic participation at the polls, as they have done historically."

Paley highlighted that the Guardian Council hand-picks the six candidates and noted severe limitations on Iranian voters' access to "even the most basic freedoms; necessary features of any democracy."

"In the face of the authoritarian regime’s long history of harassing and intimidating journalists, suppressing election coverage, and denying freedom of peaceful of assembly, we support the Iranian people," he said.

According to the Kurdish human rights organization Kordpa, which shared images of the messages sent to prisoners, they are asked to vote on Friday. The message tells prisoners that their families should also vote.

Failure to participate in the election results in being marked absent, leading to penalties such as three to six months imprisonment or up to 74 lashes based on law governing unverified absences.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic faces the challenge of reconnecting with a deeply disillusioned electorate. Official statistics reveal a stark decline in voter participation: 40.6% in the recent parliamentary elections, with Tehran recording its lowest turnout at 24%.

The run-off elections saw even lower participation, with only 7% in Tehran.

Simultaneously, numerous student organizations, women's groups, youth associations, and political activists have called for an election boycott.