27 May, 2017
On Monday, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dropped out of the election to back hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi. "Repeat the vote for dear Rouhani, to boost hope for future", he said on Sunday, referring to Friday's presidential election.
"A fundamental and crucial decision must be taken for the unity of the revolutionary front", Ghalibaf wrote in a statement.
The news Qalibaf was standing down broke as Raisi was delivering a speech in Shiraz, thrilling his supporters. The move reduces the risk of the anti-Rouhani vote being split. "Qalibaf speaks more to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and security apparatus, Raisi more to the traditional conservative" and appeals to the clerical class.
Iranians will go to the polls Friday, the same day Donald Trump begins his first foreign trip as U.S. President arriving in Saudi Arabia, where the kingdom's leaders vowed this month to start "the battle against Iran".
The official IRNA news agency said Eshaq Jahangiri, senior vice president under Rouhani, dropped out, leaving just four candidates in the race.
The voting date for the 12th presidential and 5th city and council elections is May 19. Rouhani, who pledged to reduce Iran's global isolation and grant more freedoms at home, averted a second round by winning just over 50 percent.
Rouhani has stabilised the Iranian economy and brought down inflation but unemployment is high and his opponents have questioned whether his administration has done enough to bring tangible economic benefits to the country. If the then six-candidate field was reduced to the pair, 48 percent of respondents would vote for Rouhani and 39 percent for Raisi, according to the survey released on May 10. "We have resolved some problems and bigger problems remain for us to resolve on this hard path with him", Khatami said in a video message, "It is now your turn to renew your vote for our dear Rouhani in order to strengthen hope for a better future".
Raisi has been touted as a frontrunner to succeed the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"I will vote for Mr Rouhani in the presidential election", Jahangiri said as he announced he was withdrawing his candidacy.
His supporters often call Rouhani's political team "traitors" for making the nuclear agreement with the United States and other world powers.
Raisi, a former attorney general, serves as the head of the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a vast conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran.
