Iran election likely to seat new, hardline president as nuclear deal hangs in the balance

Tehran — Iran is still battling a serious COVID-19 epidemic, but it hasn't stopped the government from going ahead with a presidential election. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast the first ballot on Friday morning.

Some 59 million Iranians are eligible to vote, but the question is, will they bother? Authorities here are worried that turnout could be embarrassingly low. For more than a decade, Iranians have been getting poorer. Disillusioned and fed up, many have lost faith in their country's political system, and their government. Iran's economy, battered by U.S. sanctions, endemic corruption and then the coronavirus pandemic, has withered, and the price of basic goods has skyrocketed.