The Iranian Presidential elections scheduled for today will be followed with great interest by the global community. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s preferred candidate, the head of judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi is widely expected to be the frontrunner.

But there are still questions about the current Chief Justice’s future prospects; many believe he is directly in line to replace the Supreme Leader. If that happens while Mr Raisi is President, the entire process of election will have to be repeated.

But beyond these technicalities, many independent observers see Raisi as the ‘conservative’ option, which would imply that a harder line be taken against US sanctions. The recently thawing relations with Saudi Arabia however, might continue on the present trajectory, as there would not have been any positive signs of rapprochement had both the temporal and spiritual leadership on the same page.

Out of the other three candidates, the former central bank governor, Mr Hemati looks to be trailing closest behind Raisi in the polls and is perhaps the only threat Mr Raisi has to contend with. One of the major caveats of his campaign is his recent announcement to retain Javad Zarif. This would allow for the US to chart an easier path to reviving the nuclear deal. Hemati has even hinted at a possibility to meet President Biden if he is elected.

But while the stage is set, the environment surrounding this contest is as turbulent as ever. There are mixed reports coming in from Tehran; there have been scattered calls for a boycott and there is expectation that the turnout might even reach a new record low. From outside of Iran, there are still questions of how much really even changes since the Supreme Leader will continue to offer guidance on foreign policy regardless of who is elected. But in a wide variety of other spheres such as development spending, acting on corruption or economic reforms, this election will be key for the people of Iran.