MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of people died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones' bodies.
Saudi Arabia has not commented on the death toll amid the heat during the pilgrimage, required of every able Muslim once in their life, nor offered any causes for those who died. However, hundreds of people had lined up at the Emergency Complex in Al-Muaisem neighborhood in Mecca, trying to get information about their missing family members.
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MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of people died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones' bodies.
Muslim pilgrims rest after casting stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A pilgrim offer prayers after she cast stones at a pillar in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A pilgrim receives cold water spray after he cast stones at a pillar in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A pilgrim receives cold water spray after she cast stones at a pillar in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Hundreds died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say
Hundreds died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
One list circulating online suggested at least 550 people died during the five-day Hajj. A medic who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss information not released publicly by the government said that the names listed appeared genuine. That medic and another official who also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason said they believed at least 600 bodies were at the facility.
Deaths are not uncommon at the Hajj, which has seen at times over 2 million people travel to Saudi Arabia. There have also been stampedes and epidemics through the pilgrimage’s history.
Each year, the Hajj draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from low-income nations, “many of whom have had little, if any, pre-Hajj health care,” according to an article in the April edition of the Journal of Infection and Public Health. Communicable illnesses can spread among the gathered masses, many of whom save their entire lives for the pilgrimage and can be elderly with preexisting health conditions, it said.
However, the number of dead this year suggests something caused the fatalities to swell. Already, several countries have said some of their pilgrims died because of the heat that swept across the holy sites at Mecca, including Jordan and Tunisia.
Khalid Bashir Bazaz, an Indian pilgrim, speaking near the Grand Mosque on Wednesday, said he “saw a lot of people collapsing to the ground unconscious” during this year's Hajj.
Temperatures on Tuesday reached 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) in Mecca and the sacred sites in and around the city, according to the Saudi National Center for Meteorology. Some people fainted while trying to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil.
Many Egyptians said they lost track of their loved ones in the heat and the crowds. More than 1.83 million Muslims performed the Hajj in 2024, including more than 1.6 million from 22 countries, and around 222,000 Saudi citizens and residents, according to the Saudi Hajj authorities.
On Wednesday at the medical complex in Mecca, an Egyptian man broke down when he heard his mother was among the dead. He cried for some time before grabbing his cellphone and calling their travel agent.
“He left her to die,” he shouted, referring to the agent. The crowd tried to calm him down.
Security appeared tight at the complex, with an official reading out names of the dead and the nationalities, which included people from Algeria, Egypt and India. Those who said they were kin of the dead were allowed inside to identify the deceased.
The AP could not independently confirm the causes of death for the people whose bodies were held at the complex. Saudi officials did not respond to questions seeking more information.
The kingdom's ruling Al Saud family maintains a major influence in the Muslim world through its oil wealth and management of Islam’s holiest sites. Like Saudi monarchs before him, King Salman has taken the title of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, referring to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that Muslims pray towards five times a day, and the Prophet's Mosque in the nearby city of Medina.
Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on crowd control and safety measures for those attending the annual five-day pilgrimage, but the sheer number of participants makes ensuring their safety difficult.
Climate change could make the risk even greater. A 2019 study by experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that even if the world succeeds in mitigating the worst effects of climate change, the Hajj would be held in temperatures exceeding an “extreme danger threshold” from 2047 to 2052, and from 2079 to 2086.
Islam follows a lunar calendar, so the Hajj falls around 11 days earlier each year. By 2029, the Hajj will occur in April, and in the next several years after that it will fall in the winter, when temperatures are milder.
A 2015 stampede in Mina during the hajj killed over 2,400 pilgrims, the deadliest incident to ever strike the pilgrimage, according to an AP count. Saudi Arabia has never acknowledged the full toll of the stampede. A separate crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, which preceded the Mina disaster that same year, killed 111 people.
The second-deadliest incident at hajj was a 1990 stampede that killed 1,426 people.
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Muslim pilgrims rest after casting stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims rest after casting stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A pilgrim offer prayers after she cast stones at a pillar in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A pilgrim receives cold water spray after he cast stones at a pillar in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A pilgrim receives cold water spray after she cast stones at a pillar in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Hundreds died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say
Hundreds died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they arrive to cast stones at pillars in the symbolic stoning of the devil, the last rite of the annual hajj, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Muslim pilgrims were wrapping up the Hajj pilgrimage in the deadly summer heat on Tuesday with the third day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, and the farewell circling around Kaaba in Mecca's Grand Mosque. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranians voted Friday in a snap election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, with the race's sole reformist candidate vowing to seek “friendly relations” with the West in an effort to energize supporters in a vote beset by apathy.
Voters face a choice between hard-line candidates and the little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon. As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from running, while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognized monitors.
The voting comes as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build — should it choose to do so — several nuclear weapons.
The remarks by Pezeshkian come after he and his allies were targeted by a veiled warning from the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over their outreach to the United States.
Pezeshkian's comments, made after he cast his ballot, appeared to be aimed boosting turnout as public apathy has grown pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes and mass protests. He seemed to hope that invoking the possibility of Iran emerging from its isolation would motivate people otherwise dissilusioned with Iranian politics. A higher turnout typically aids those like Pezeshkian in the reformist movement that seeks to change its Shiite theocracy from within.
While Iran's 85-year-old Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state, presidents can bend the country's policies toward confrontation or negotiation with the West. However, given the record-low turnout in recent elections, it remains unclear just how many Iranians will take part in Friday's poll.
Pezeshkian, who voted at a hospital near the capital, Tehran, appeared to have that in mind as he responded to a journalist's question about how Iran would interact with the West if he was president.
“God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel," the 69-year-old candidate said. Israel, long Iran's regional archenemy, faces intense criticism across the Mideast over its grinding war in the Gaza Strip.
He also responded to a question about a renewed crackdown on women over the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, less than two years after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide demonstrations and violent security force response.
“No inhuman or invasive behavior should be made against our girls, daughters and mothers,” he said.
A higher turnout could boost Pezeshkian’s chances, and the candidate may have been counting on social media to spread his remarks, as all television broadcasters in the country are state-controlled and run by hard-liners. But it remains unclear if he can gain the momentum needed to draw voters to the ballot.
There have been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement protests who remains in house arrest, also has refused to vote with his wife, his daughter said.
There's also been criticism that Pezeshkian represents just another government-approved candidate. One woman in a documentary on Pezeshkian aired by state TV said her generation was “moving toward the same level" of animosity with the government that Pezeshkian's generation had in the 1979 revolution.
Analysts broadly describe the race as a three-way contest. There are two hard-liners, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. A Shiite cleric, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, also has remained in the race despite polling poorly.
Pezeshkian has aligned himself with figures such as former President Hassan Rouhani under whose administration Tehran struck the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
The voting began just after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump concluded their first televised debate for the U.S. presidential election, during which Iran came up.
Trump described Iran as “broke” under his administration and highlighted his decision to launch a 2020 drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. That attack was part of a spiral of escalating tensions between America and Iran since Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. in 2018 from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Iranian state media made a point to publish images of voters lined up in the city of Kerman near Soleimani's grave. State television later broadcast images of polling places across the country with modest lines. Onlookers did not see significant lines at many polling centers in Tehran, reminiscent of the low turnout seen in Iran’s recent parliamentary election in March.
Khamenei cast one of the election's first votes.
“People’s turnout with enthusiasm, and higher number of voters — this is a definite need for the Islamic Republic,” Khamenei said.
More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 to 30.
Iranian law requires that a winner gets more than 50% of all votes cast. If that doesn't happen, the race's top two candidates will advance to a runoff a week later. There's been only one runoff presidential election in Iran's history, in 2005, when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bested former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The 63-year-old Raisi died in the May 19 helicopter crash that also killed the country's foreign minister and others. He was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader. Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the death of Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.
Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran.
Religious leader of the Iranian Jews Younes Hamami Lalehzar casts his ballot during the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian citizens gather to cast their votes during the presidential election at the Iranian consulate in Basra southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)
Iranian citizens cast their votes during the presidential election at the Iranian consulate in Basra southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)
A woman casts her ballot during the Iranian presidential election at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Religious leaders of the Iranian religious minorities, among them leader of the Iranian Jews Younes Hamami Lalehzar, center, arrive at a polling station to vote for the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian women line up to vote for the presidential election at a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Women get their ballot paper during the Iranian presidential election in a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A staff member of a polling station prepares ballot papers during the Iranian presidential election in a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranians arrive to vote at the Iranian consulate in Basra southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)
A woman fills out her ballot during the Iranian presidential election in a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian women wait in queue to cast their votes during the presidential election at a polling station inside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A woman casts her vote during the presidential election at a polling station inside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A woman casts her ballot during the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian citizens wait in queue to cast their votes during the presidential election at a polling station inside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iranian citizens wait in queue to cast their votes during the presidential election at a polling station inside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to media after casting his vote during the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man casts his ballot during the presidential election as he holds a picture of the late President Ebrahim Raisi in a polling station, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leaves after casting his vote during the presidential election, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Supporters of reformist candidate for Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian attend his campaign meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A supporter of Saeed Jalili, a candidate for the presidential election, holds up his poster during a campaign gathering in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A supporter of Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the most prominent hard-line candidate for the presidential election, holds up his poster in a campaign gathering in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits in a ceremony to mark the Shiite holiday of Eid al-Ghadir, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Iran's supreme leader issued a thinly veiled warning Tuesday to the sole reformist candidate in the country's upcoming presidential election, saying anyone who believes "all ways to progress" come from the United States shouldn't be supported. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Supporters of Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the most prominent hard-line candidate for the June 28 presidential election, attend his campaign gathering in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Qalibaf along with five other candidates is competing in the election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash with seven other officials in May. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei walks towards the ballot box to cast his vote during the presidential election, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks after casting his vote during the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot during the presidential election, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
