TEHRAN, Iran

With two days left until the June 18 election, reformists and conservative in Iran are pulling out all the stops to put up a united front.

The race got closer on Wednesday after former Vice-President and reformist candidate Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh quit in favor of fellow reformist and former top banker AbdolNaser Hemmati.

On the other hand, pressure is mounting on four conservative candidates to drop out in favor of judiciary chief Ebrahim Raeisi, who has emerged as a frontrunner in opinion polls.

On Wednesday, a group of 210 lawmakers in the conservative-controlled Iranian parliament issued a statement urging conservative hopefuls to back Raeisi for the presidency.

Besides Raeisi, other conservative contenders in the race are former top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei, senior lawmaker Alireza Zakani, and former deputy parliament speaker Ghazizadeh Hashemi.

In a statement addressed to the four presidential contenders, the lawmakers contend that the "popular support" has grown for Raeisi, so they should "prepare the ground for a strong government" by announcing their support to him.

They argue that the move will also lead to "maximum participation" of people in Friday's vote.

There have been fears about low voter turnout in the polls due to widespread discontent among people. The disqualification of key reformist figures have also fueled these fears.

United front
Raeisi, who has been leading by a massive margin in opinion polls, has received support from other conservative groups, who too have urged his fellow contestants to withdraw in his favor.

Manouchehr Mottaki, spokesperson for the Unity Council of Principlists, a coalition of conservative groups, on Tuesday reminded candidates of the 2013 presidential election when conservative votes were split, giving reformist candidate Hassan Rouhani a comfortable victory.

While there have been no signs yet of conservative candidates dropping out in favor of Raeisi, Hashemi in a tweet on Tuesday said he would "definitely not cause the defeat of the revolutionary front", referring to the conservative camp.

His comments came a day after he pledged to stay in the race "till the very end".

Rumors had also been floating about Zakani announcing his withdrawal during a campaign rally in the central city of Kashan, but his campaign manager later dismissed it, saying he will stay in the race.

During presidential debates, Hemmati had repeatedly rocked Zakani of being a "cover candidate" for Raeisi.

For his part, Rezaei, who has made several unsuccessful bids at the presidency before, has vowed to fight till the end.

Jalili, a close ally of Raeisi, who has been actively involved in his campaign, has also not made his intentions to pull out clear yet.

Frontrunner
According to an opinion poll conducted by state broadcaster, voter support after the third presidential debate for Raeisi jumped to 50.1 percent, followed by Rezaei at distant second with 6.7 percent and Hemmati 4.3 percent.

In a poll conducted by the reformist front, Raeisi again sits on the top with 47 percent of votes, followed by Hemmati with 18 percent and Rezaei with 8 percent.

Raeisi himself has stopped short of appealing to his fellow contestants to evolve a consensus, and reports of him dropping out have also been rejected by his team.

He was incumbent President Hassan Rouhani's main challenger in 2017 election, but failed to overcome the massive reformist tide that time.

Raeisi has held several key posts in the Iranian judiciary since the 1979 revolution, besides heading the influential Rezavi shrine complex in northeastern Mashhad province.

In March 2019, he was chosen by Khamenei to head the country's judiciary, a chair he still holds.

A powerful principlist figure in the country and a strong critic of the West, Raeisi has also been tipped as a potential successor of Khamenei.

During his election campaign, the 60-year old judiciary chief has focused on young voters, hailing them as Iran’s "most significant resource" and "driving force in the country’s economy", promising to solve issues like unemployment, high marriage expenses, and staggering housing prices.