Iranian youths voice demands as presidential election looms amid low turnout fears

A number of young Iranian voters have been actively voicing their demands ahead of Friday's presidential election despite predictions of a low voter turnout due to candidates' failure to connect with the younger demographic.

Iran's 14th presidential election, initially slated for 2025, was rescheduled following the tragic death of the late President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in the country's mountainous northwestern region last month.

The younger age bracket of voters in Iran constitutes nearly one-third of the country's 61 million eligible voters. They hold substantial sway in shaping the upcoming election and their collective influence could significantly impact the electoral outcome.

"I hope the next president continues along the path of President Raisi, and doesn't go back to the ways of former presidents who made many compromises with the West. I don't want to go back to the time when our president did not believe in resisting the West. I want the new president to take us to the highest level of civilization, where Islam rises with our efforts," Morteza Taghavi, a resident in the capital Tehran, told China Global Television Network (CGTN).

Shirin Hashemi, another Iranian citizen, emphasized the need for cultivating a more positive atmosphere across society.

"We need cultural change, open access to the internet. We like to have freedom. As an Islamic country, we like to have freedom. A person who wants to wear the hijab can wear it, but don't force the hijab, because it distances people from Islam. Other countries will form a bad image of us. We need a positive atmosphere," she said.

With the election date nearing, many believe there is a pressing need to re-engage Iran's youth politically, and despite all eligible presidential candidates acknowledging the significance of the younger generation, none have effectively addressed their concerns.

Dr. Taghi Azadarmaki, an Iranian sociologist and advocate for the sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, expressed concern over the level of disconnect between the politicians and the younger demographic in Iran, who he said are more concerned with their own set of priorities.

"They want to go out, to have a job, to have respect, to have a family. That's it. Nothing more than that. Somehow if they could find it, later on they would ask for democracy, freedom. Now they are not going to think about democracy. Even Dr. Pezeshkian could not raise a main point to ask people, listen, and then have a social mobilization to give them both," said Azadarmaki.

In recent years, voter turnout has steadily declined, hitting an all-time low of 41 percent in the legislative elections last March, highlighting the considerable disengagement from young people and politics.

"Youth people, now, they are absent. They are not in the streets, not in the city even, and you cannot see them in politics. They are working their own life. Most of them they are going to get experience, knowledge and capitals to do something in and go out," Azadarmaki observed.

Iran had earlier announced the names of six qualified candidates for the upcoming presidential election, but as the crunch date on Friday approaches, some have started to drop out of the running.

Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani pulled out of the presidential race on Thursday, becoming the second nominee to announce his withdrawal after current Vice President Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi withdrew the previous day.

Ghazizadeh Hashemi said he had quit in order to uphold unity within Iran's conservative ranks and in response to calls from influential factions to bolster the revolutionary forces' front. He expressed hope that the other principle candidates in the race, namely Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and Saeed Jalili, the former chief nuclear negotiator, would reach a consensus before the election.

In addition to former Iranian health minister and reformist Pezeshkian, the other remaining candidate is Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former minister of the interior.

As election day looms, the challenge persists for candidates to bridge the gap and inspire broader participation among Iran's youth on polling day, with their views seen as pivotal in shaping the nation's future trajectory.

Iranian youths voice demands as presidential election looms amid low turnout fears

E-commerce is helping farmers in the Aksu Prefecture in the landlocked region of Xinjiang in northwest China to overcome geographical obstacles and sell their produce to consumers across the country.

As the westernmost region of China bordering Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang is thousands of kilometers away from the eastern markets, a despairing distance for local fruit farmers.

"Our apples [used to] make it to domestic markets through traditional ways. The problem is that they have to be picked before they're ripe because of the long transport time," said Zhou Hu, owner of Aksu Qiguo E-commerce.

Zhou runs a company that sells fruits purchased from local farmers to online consumers in live-streaming shows.

"Previously, it might take five to seven days for the apples to arrive. Now with e-commerce, it takes two to three days," Zhou said.

As the business thrives, Zhou has helped raise the income of local farmers.

"We offer farmers 20 percent more of the total price than traditional buyers. That has a direct impact on farmers," Zhou said.

Seizing the opportunity brought about by e-commerce development, Rizwan Guli Erkin opened a store named Ga Beng Cui Dry Fruit Store on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, to help her parents sell paper shell walnuts.

"The walnuts are grown by my parents. They only know how to grow them but don't know how to sell. So after college I've helped them with sales," she said.

Another one who has spotted this opportunity and returned home to build local businesses is Zheng Haozhe, CEO of the Future Village, an accommodation business in Onsu County of Aksu.

"I went to the U.S. when I was 14. I started from the ninth grade in high school. The U.S. has given me a very good education, but now, I feel very grateful to come back to my country and keep building my country, especially in a border area in the western area where things are not very developed," Zheng said.

E-commerce helps Xinjiang farmers reach markets across China