Reformist Candidate Drops Out Two Days Before Presidential Vote

Mohsen Mehralizadeh, former Governor of Isfahan and one of only two reformist candidates running for the Iranian presidency, has pulled out of the race just two days before the first round of the presidential election taking place on Friday 18 June.

• Mehralizadeh was polling as a peripheral candidate, and therefore his withdrawal is unlikely to have a significant impact on the outcome of the result.
• His withdrawal leaves former Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati as the sole moderate reformist candidate in the mix, with the other five candidates all hailing from the ultraconservative 'principalists' wing of Iranian politics.
• It remains the case that head of the Iranian judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, remains the overwhelming favourite to win the presidency amidst widespread voter apathy.
• It remains unclear the stance that the new (likely Raisi-led) administration will take towards the Iran nuclear deal:
  • One scenario is that the work that has been done in Vienna in recent months towards Iran becoming compliant and the US potentially re-joining the scheme is scrapped under Khamenei's orders.
  • Alternatively, a deal could be allowed to be reached, which sees sanctions on Iran lifted providing an economic boost allowing Raisi to take the credit but blaming his predecessor Hassan Rouhani for 'giving in' to the West.