Iran: 2021 presidential election

592 candidates registered to contest the election (552 male and 40 female), with the Guardian Council – Iran’s top election watchdog – approving just seven candidates, none of whom were female.

The election campaign was dominated by the state of the economy, which had been suffering under sanctions reimposed by the United States in 2018 and further deteriorated as a consequence of restrictions imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

As expected, Ebrahim Raisi won the election, securing more than 50 per cent of votes and thus avoiding a second poll.