Iranians are going to the polls on Friday, June 28, to elect a new president to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month.

The Islamic Republic's Guardian Council, a panel of Islamic clerics and jurists, had approved the names of six men to run for the election.

But on Wednesday, just a day before the election, a candidate withdrew from the race.

Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, 53, dropped his candidacy and urged other candidates to do the same "so that the front of the revolution will be strengthened," the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Hashemi's decision to drop out is aimed at consolidating the conservative vote so that the only reformist candidate doesn't benefit from the split mandate for hard-liners.

Hashemi served as one of Raisi's vice presidents.

Such withdrawals are common in the final hours of an Iranian presidential election, particularly in the last 24 hours before the vote is held when campaigns enter a mandatory quiet period without rallies.

Hashemi's decision leaves five other candidates still in the race.

The candidates had just under three weeks to campaign and mobilize voters with television debates and election events across the country.

Of Iran's 83.5 million people, about 61 million are eligible to vote. But recent surveys have showed that over 30 million — around half of the electorate — do not want to cast their ballots.

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The political repression, economic crisis and failed attempts at reform in recent decades have left them disillusioned with the clergy-dominated regime.

The highest voter turnout of 51.7% is projected by the social research institute "Meta," which is part of Imam Sadeq University. The university was founded after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and trains high-ranking officials of the state apparatus.

It counts as one of its graduates Saeed Jalili, one of the contestants in the election.

The 58-year-old politician........

© Deutsche Welle