Skip to main content
Adelante Latin America conference
Iranian election sham will not fool the people
With Iran heading to the polls following the death of president Raisi, STEVE BISHOP assesses the candidates, and warns of a wide and growing gap between the populace and the regime
MORE OF THE SAME? Reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian (bottom centre)

THE presidential election in Iran, following the death in a helicopter crash of president Ebrahim Raisi last month, bears all the hallmarks of manipulation by the theocratic dictatorship under the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayotollah Ali Khamenei.

The death of Raisi, along with the ongoing wave of protests against inflation, poverty and corruption across Iran, have wrongfooted the regime.  

While the hard-line Raisi maintained his position through the force of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and his close relationship with Khamenei, popular support was always at a low ebb.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Protesters participate in a demonstration in Berlin, Germany, in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026
Middle East / 10 January 2026
10 January 2026

The Committee for the Defence of Iranian People’s Rights (Codir) welcomes demonstrations across Iran, which have put pressure upon the theocratic dictatorship, but warns against intervention by the United States to force Iran in a particular direction

Tehran 21.6.25
Features / 22 June 2025
22 June 2025

In the second of two articles, STEVE BISHOP looks at how the 1979 revolution’s aims are obfuscated to create a picture where the monarchists are the opposition to the theocracy, not the burgeoning workers’ and women’s movement on the streets of Iran

EMPTY POSTURE: Children accost Donald Trump in effigy during
Features / 31 March 2025
31 March 2025
As tensions rise in the Middle East, the role of Iran in the region’s political balance becomes ever more significant. STEVE BISHOP assesses the current situation
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a meeting wi
Features / 21 February 2025
21 February 2025
Freedom now for former PM Mir-Hossein Mousavi and other political prisoners