Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh, the Reformist candidate who resigned on Wednesday, arrived at the Jamaran Hosseiniyeh (where Ayatollah Khomeini once lived and taught) in the northern part of Tehran to vote at 11:30am. His visit was marred by heckling at the polling station, with several people reportedly shouting “marg bar zed-e velayat-e faqih [death to the opponents of the Guardianship of Jurists]” at the candidate. The Guardianship of the Jurists is the official system of government in Iran where clerics have juridical and political oversight over government, and the chant is popular among devoted supporters of the Supreme Leader. The chant indicates the hostility of hard-line conservatives who see Reformists as subversive.

Read more at Fararu

The thirty-second anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Revolution, first Supreme Leader of Iran and founder of the Islamic Republic, occurred today. The day is a large public holiday which ordinarily involves a procession to his grave at the Imam Khomeini Shrine in South Tehran. His successor, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, addressed the nation, saying that Khomeini considered voting a religious duty and, under certain circumstances, not voting a terrible sin.

Read a summary of Khamenei’s speech at Tasnim