A candidate in Iran's presidential election announced he was dropping out of the race in an effort to unite support among hardline voters headed to the polls on Friday.
The departure of Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, an arch-conservative politician, leaves five contenders in the election to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
Ghazizadeh Hashemi was one of Raisi's vice presidents and is chairman of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs. He belongs to the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability, a political faction loyal to the Islamic Republic's hardline leadership.
He announced in a Wednesday night post on X that he was withdrawing from the race. He urged others with a similar political bent to follow suit in order for support to unify around a single hardline candidate.
Around 61 million voters are being called upon to elect a successor to Raisi. The Guardian Council, an extremely conservative supervisory body, had only authorized six candidates for the election.
In the hardline camp, a power struggle is raging between Saeed Jalili, ex-negotiator in the international nuclear talks, and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. It is unclear whether another candidate from the camp will withdraw.
Former health minister Masoud Pezeshkian is the only moderate candidate seen as having a chance at the presidency.