The presidential election in Iran is here: What to know about candidates

Regime-approved candidates in Iran are running to be the country's next president on Friday in a vote that follows the helicopter-crash death of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi last month.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has the final say on Iran's domestic and foreign policy but the new presidential leadership comes as the 45-year-old Islamic Republic weathers a sanctions-hit economy, discontent that's spiraled into frequent civil unrest, and regional Middle East turmoil tied to Israel's war in Gaza.

Here's what to know about Iran's presidential vote on June 28.

More: Hijab crackdown: Iran presidential candidates are ducking the issue. What does that mean for women?

Helicopter crash recap: What happened to Ebrahim Raisi?

Raisi and seven other people including Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed on May 19 when the helicopter they were traveling in came down near the border with Azerbaijan in bad weather.

There are many unresolved questions about what caused the crash, though Iran's preliminary investigation ruled out sabotage in the form of an explosion, cyberattack or an obvious mechanical failure.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's former foreign minister, has sought to blame U.S. sanctions on Iran for the crash, tying those punitive measures to the country's inability to get spare parts or modernize its aging aviation fleet.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller responded by saying America was “not going to apologize for our sanctions" as Iran has used aircraft to "transport equipment to support terrorism."

Who are the candidates for Iran's presidency?

Six candidates were approved to run by Iran’s Guardian Council, a 12-person elections watchdog comprised of experts in constitutional law and Islamic law appointed by Khamenei. The six candidates were whittled down from 80 who sought to take part in the vote. All support Iran's system of clerical rule.

Only one candidate, Massoud Pezeshkian, a surgeon and former health minister, is known as a so-called reformer, at least notionally. Pezeshkian has, for example, criticized the government's handling of political dissent. He also supported the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from. He comes from Iran's Azeri minority ethnic group and has emphasized supporting minority rights. But Pezeshkian is also seen as loyal to Khamenei and not viewed as a political threat.

"He checks an essential box for Khamenei: he has no charisma, popular base, or following within the regime structure," wrote analysts at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. "His competence and economic management are untested, but he will not rally any base for anyone."

The other three candidates − two hardliners dropped out on the eve of the vote − are politically conservative, meaning they don't want to loosen Iran's strict social behaviors, especially for women, and see no real benefit in improved ties with the West.

Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf is a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander and mayor of Tehran. He is current the speaker of Iran's parliament. Saeed Jalili, who lost his right leg fighting in Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, is known as a rigid ideologue and as Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator. And Mostafa Pourmohammadi was a key actor in Iran's 1988 massacre of political prisoners, overseen by Raisi.

Iran votes: Why it matters

While all the candidates were handpicked to run by Iran's political establishment, the winner could play a major role in choosing the successor to the aging Khamenei, 85.

The new president will also need to deal with Iran's young population who seem more determined than ever to protest over human rights and corruption. Young women and girls especially continue to be detained for not wearing a hijab properly, in contravention of Iran's so-called morality laws.

The vote also underscores the division in Iran's society, with many voters feeling disillusioned with the political system, evident during a historically low turnout for Iran's March parliamentary elections. And others energized by it, such as a 26-year-old religiously devout member of Iran's hardline Basij militia named Reza who told the Reuters news agency he would sacrifice his life for Iran's leader. "It is my religious duty to vote," he said.

Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, the CEO of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, a think tank focused on Iran's economy, said after Iran's presidential vote in 2021 − the vote that elected Raisi − he didn't think elections in Iran mattered any longer. But he said "this election might actually matter, if apathetic voters decide to back Pezeshkian because they see his candidacy as a kind of course correction" to a system that saw little value in their vote.

"If the system is planning incremental reforms in domestic or foreign policy in order to build back trust with the electorate, it needs a president who can guide that process," he said.

Iran votes: When do the results drop?

The votes could be counted by June 30. However, if no candidate wins a majority, the two leading candidates will enter a run-off election, which would likely take place on July 5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran's presidential election, after deadly helicopter crash, is here