Iranian presidential election explained

The President of Iran is the highest official elected by direct, popular vote, although the President carries out the decrees, and answers to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state.[1] [2] Chapter IX of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran sets forth the qualifications for presidential candidates. Powers of the presidency include signing treaties and other agreements with foreign countries and international organizations, with Supreme Leader's approval; administering national planning, budget, and state employment affairs, as decreed by the Supreme Leader.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The President also appoints the ministers, subject to the approval of Parliament.[11]

Candidates have to be vetted by the Guardian Council, a twelve-member body consisting of six clerics (selected by Iran's Supreme Leader), and six lawyers (proposed by the head of Iran's judicial system and voted in by the Parliament).[12]

The Guardian Council interprets the term supervision in Article 99 as "approbation supervision" (Persian: نظارت استصوابی)[13] which implies the right for acceptance or rejection of elections legality and candidates competency. This interpretation is in contrast with the idea of "notification supervision" (Persian: نظارت استطلاعی) which does not imply the mentioned approval right.[14] The "evidentiary supervision" (Persian: نظارت استنادی), which requires evidences for acceptance or rejection of elections legality and candidates competency, is another interpretation of mentioned article.[15] [16]

Iranian presidential election[17] [18] [19]
Elections DateEligible votersNumber of
votes
Voter Turnout PercentageNumber of
candidates
Winner Number of
Votes for Winner
Percentage of Vote
1st electionJanuary 25, 198020,993,64314,152,90767.41124Abolhassan Banisadr10,709,33075.6
2nd electionJuly 24, 198122,687,01714,572,49364.244Mohammad-Ali Rajai12,960,61991.0
3rd electionOctober 2, 198122,687,01716,847,71574.264Ali Khamenei16,007,07297.01
4th electionAugust 16, 198525,993,80214,238,58754.783Ali Khamenei12,203,87087.09
5th electionJuly 28, 198930,139,59816,452,56254.592Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani15,537,39496.01
6th electionJune 11, 199333,156,05516,796,75550.664Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani10,449,93364.0
7th electionMay 23, 199736,466,48729,145,74579.924Mohammad Khatami20,078,18769.06
8th electionJune 8, 200142,170,23028,155,96966.7710Mohammad Khatami21,659,05377.01
9th electionJune 17, 200546,786,41827,958,93159.762Mahmoud Ahmadinejad17,284,78261.69
10th electionJune 12, 200946,199,99739,371,21484.834Mahmoud Ahmadinejad24,592,79362.63
11th electionJune 14, 201350,483,192 36,821,53872.946Hassan Rouhani18,692,50050.71
12th electionMay 19, 201756,410,234 41,366,08573.334Hassan Rouhani23,636,65257.14
13th electionJune 18, 202159,310,30728,933,00448.84Ebrahim Raisi17,926,34561.9
14th electionJune 28, 2024 "runoff"61,452,32124,535,18539.964Masoud Pezeshkian & Saeed Jalili
July 5, 2024 "Second Round"61,452,32130,530,15749.82Masoud Pezeshkian16,384,40353,6

Notes and References

  1. (see Article 110 of the constitution)
  2. Web site: ICL - Iran - Constitution. www.servat.unibe.ch.
  3. Web site: Iran's Khamenei hits out at Rafsanjani in rare public rebuke. Middle East Eye.
  4. Web site: Khamenei says Iran must go green - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East. Al-Monitor. 17 November 2015 .
  5. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ahmadinejad.htm Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
  6. Web site: Exclusive: Iran pursues ballistic missile work, complicating nuclear talks. Louis Charbonneau and Parisa Hafezi. 16 May 2014. Reuters.
  7. Web site: IranWire - Asking for a Miracle: Khamenei's Economic Plan.
  8. Web site: Khamenei outlines 14-point plan to increase population. Arash. Karami. May 22, 2014. Al-Monitor.
  9. Web site: Iran: Executive, legislative branch officials endorse privatization plan. www.payvand.com.
  10. Book: Ali Vafadar. The constitution and political change. 1995. 559.
  11. Book: Amir Saeed Vakil,Pouryya Askary. constitution in now law like order. 2004. 362.
  12. News: Mohamad. Bazzi. Iran Elections: Latest News. 13 June 2009. The Washington Post. 12 June 2009.
  13. Web site: آشنایی با شورای نگهبان. پایگاه اطلاع رسانی شورای نگهبان-. shora-gc.ir. February 10, 1390. fa.
  14. Web site: Magiran. magiran.com.
  15. http://mellat.majlis.ir/archive/1382/01/23/newsdiplomatic.htm Mellat Electronic Newspaper
  16. Web site: Iran Newspaper. www.irannewspaper.ir . https://web.archive.org/web/20070516171359/http://www.irannewspaper.ir/1382/820205/html/politic.htm . 2007-05-16.
  17. https://www.moi.ir/Portal/file/?462772/%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%AA%D8%A7-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84-95.pdf
  18. Web site: وزارت کشور-پایگاه اطلاع رسانی-پایگاه اطلاع رسانی وزارت کشور/انتشار نتایج تفصیلی انتخابات ریاست جمهوری . 2020-03-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171010165111/https://www.moi.ir/Portal/home/?news%2F469742%2F469971%2F497969%2F%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AC-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B5%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C . 2017-10-10 . dead .
  19. Web site: The Race: Election Factoids . United States Institute of Peace. 24 April 2017 .