Exiled prince calls on Iranians to put aside 'false hopes', boycott election

Iran's exiled prince, Reza Pahlavi, has called on Iranians to stay away from ballot boxes Friday, when Iran's next president will be determined in the runoff between Saeed Jalili and Masoud Pezeshkian.

"Put aside the false hopes and fears and join the decisive majority who consciously and courageously said no to the Islamic Republic," Pahlavi said in a video message Wednesday. "Don't let them kill our children in your name and on the back of your vote."

Official figures released by Iran's Interior Ministry put the turnout in the first round held on July 28 at 39.92 percent, the lowest recorded since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Reza Pahlavi on Wednesday quoted a tweet by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei about the people's low turnout in the Friday's vote, and said, "Last week the Iranian nation humiliated your illegitimate regime. This week Iranians will again say no to your Election Circus as they seek to reclaim the freedom, dignity & prosperity you have stolen."

"Iran will succeed and relegate your dictatorship to the ash heap of history," he added.

Pahlavi's call for election boycott echoes that of many other Iranian activists who have boycotted Iran's presidential elections, making the turnout the central theme of this campaign.

Another prominent exiled opposition figure, Hamed Esmaeilion, had earlier published a post on X, praising those who did not vote in the first round last week, and inviting them to stay the course.

"We will not return from our path," he wrote. "Iran deserves democracy, and democracy is not achieved by manufactured votes, but by moving on from the Islamic Republic."

On Wednesday, Iran's Sureme Leader admitted that the voter turnout last Friday was "less than expected", but dismissed the idea that those who stayed away from the polls are against the "system."

"Some people may dislike certain officials or even the Islamic system," Khamenei said in a meeting with officials, "but the idea that everyone who did not vote is aligned with these individuals and this mindset is completely wrong."

Since last Friday, the two contenders in the runoff have tried to engage ordinary Iranians in the hope that a portion of the abstaining 60 percent would turn up this week and vote for them.