A reformist and a conservative will face each other in a runoff election for Iran’s presidency July 5, after neither won a majority in a first round June 28. The vote was called following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. While ultimate power in Iran rests with the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , the president can sometimes influence policy by drawing on a base of popular support, political affiliations and links to powerful institutions. The vote comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West, with Tehran mobilizing a regional network of proxy militias to target Israel in response to its military offensive in Gaza.

The reformist candidate is lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian , 69. A heart surgeon and former health minister, he has advocated for the revival of the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers in which the country agreed to limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of related economic sanctions. The deal broke down after the US, under then-President Donald Trump , withdrew from it and reinstated sanctions in 2018.