Iranians are headed to the polls Friday in a final round of voting to replace the late Presidentı Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
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00:00Iranians are voting today in a runoff election to replace the late President Ibrahim Raisi
00:05killed in a helicopter crash last month.
00:08After years of economic struggle, mass protests and tensions, public apathy has become pervasive
00:13in the Islamic Republic.
00:15Voters face a choice between the hardline former nuclear negotiator Sayyid Jalili and
00:20Mesud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and long-time parliament member who has allied himself with
00:25moderates and reformists within Iran's Shiite theocracy.
00:30The initial round of voting on June 28 saw no candidate get over 50 percent of the vote,
00:35forcing the runoff.
00:36This was also the lowest turnout ever for an Iranian election.
00:40There have been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate
00:45Narji Mohammadi.
00:47Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state.
00:53This can bend the country's policies toward confrontation or negotiation with the West.