AP Field Report from Iran: Distrustful and Angry Citizens Reluctant to Vote

The Associated Press, in a field report examining citizens' reluctance to participate in the government's staged elections, wrote that "the public anger" due to the collapse of Iran's economy to its lowest level and the bloody repression of dissent during the nationwide protests of 2022 "is still boiling." The report recalled Ali Khamenei's remarks in 2001, where he mocked the political participation of American citizens, stating: "It is shameful for a nation that 35 or 40 percent of voters participate in elections." The Supreme Leader said that this level of participation indicates that "their people do not trust their government and have no hope in a system that does not care about them." The Associated Press noted the claimed 39.9 percent participation of the people in the first round of Iran's government elections, adding: "Iran is now facing what the Ayatollah described." The report mentioned that Saeed Jalili, a former hardline nuclear negotiator, is now facing off against Massoud Pezeshkian, a reformist heart surgeon who likely needs widespread public participation to win the presidential election. Pezeshkian's supporters warn of dark days reminiscent of Jalili's time. Meanwhile, many citizens remain unconvinced that their votes even matter. On the streets of Tehran after the July 8 voting, many told the Associated Press that they do not care about the elections. Leila Sidi, a 23-year-old graphic design student, stated: "I did not vote and will not vote because no one has apologized for Mahsa and the subsequent miseries faced by the youth, neither the reformists nor the hardliners." Ahmad Taheri, a 27-year-old psychology student, said: "I did not vote because former presidents did not keep their promises" and emphasized, "I will not vote next Friday either." Mohammad Ali Rabati, a 43-year-old electronics engineer and father of two, said that the blatant indifference of Iranian officials to the economic pressures faced by the people led him not to vote. Rabati stated: "After years of economic problems, I have no interest in politics." Pezeshkian wrote on X that his government will resist the police's enforcement of mandatory hijab and internet restrictions. However, Tahereh Namazi, a 31-year-old math teacher, said she "will not vote because none of the candidates have made clear commitments on these issues." Those who did not vote and spoke with the Associated Press described their decision as a personal choice, not part of an organized boycott. At the time of the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers in 2015, the exchange rate was 32,000 rials to one dollar. Today it is 617,000 rials to one dollar, and many have realized that the value of their bank accounts, pension funds, and other assets has diminished due to the increasing devaluation of the Iranian currency. This figure is nearing its record low of 700,000 rials, which was briefly reached after the unprecedented direct attack of the Islamic Republic on Israel in April. The Soufan Center, a New York-based think tank, stated in an analysis of low public participation on Monday: "The level of voter participation and blank ballots reflects a denial of the regime's policies, especially the repression of critics and women who refuse to comply with mandatory hijab laws." The Associated Press concludes the report by noting that Pezeshkian has recently referred multiple times to the story of the "self-sacrificing farmer," a tale told to nearly every Iranian child in school about a farmer in 1961 who took off his shirt and burned it to warn a train about rocks blocking the dam. However, those who do not participate in the elections believe the train has already derailed. The difference between voting or not voting by the people in the government process determining the successor to Ebrahim Raisi, from the perspective of Arash Azizi, includes the summons of over "1,285 virtual activists" and the arrest of 58 field protesters during the government "elections." The Islamic Republic awaits another Friday; opponents say that not voting is the most effective "civil resistance."