Iran: Three of Seven Presidential Candidates Withdraw From Race Two Days To Election

Two days before the presidential election in Iran, which is expected to be won by ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, three of the six other candidates in the race withdrew their candidacies on Wednesday.

In the morning, ultraconservative lawmaker, Alireza Zakani, withdrew, hours after Mohsen Mehralizadeh also stepped down ahead of the vote on Friday, Iranian media reported.

Another ultraconservative, Saeed Jalili, also pulled out in the afternoon “A significant part of society has favored my dear brother” Raisi, Jalili said, and called on his supporters to vote for the cleric.

That leaves four hopefuls in the race, out of whom the ultraconservative judiciary chief Raisi, 60, is seen as the clear favorite after other prominent politicians were barred from running.

Last-minute withdrawals by candidates, often in return for government postings from the eventual winner, are not uncommon in Iran.

Zakani, 55, was quoted as saying of Raisi to a state television reporter: “I believe him to be qualified and will vote for him, and I hope that fundamental reforms take place in the country with him being elected.”

Hours earlier, the former vice president Mehralizadeh, 64, had also pulled out, the IRNA and ISNA news agencies reported without giving a reason.

Mehralizadeh had been one of only two reformists permitted to run to replace President Hassan Rouhani, who has served the maximum two consecutive terms.

Mehralizadeh had been the only candidate to score less than one percent in pre-election voting intentions, according to the ISPA polling institute.

His departure leaves just one candidate who is considered a reformist in the race, former central bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati, 66.