Iran's upcoming snap elections: A battle of anti-western hardliners

• Iran is holding snap elections on June 28 following the sudden death of former Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
• Iran's ultra-conservative Guardian Council, which ultimately decides who is allowed on the ballot, has approved a list of six candidates to run for the presidency.
• The vote comes amid deep economic and popular discontent, heavy Western sanctions, mounting tensions with the U.S., and ramped-up Iranian nuclear enrichment.

Iran is holding snap elections on June 28 following the sudden death of former Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. But the vote is neither free, nor likely to bring about any significant change in the country, analysts say.

The election will take place against the backdrop of a battered Iranian economy, widespread popular discontent and crackdowns on dissent. The county is also dealing withhigh inflation, heavy Western sanctions, mounting tensions with the U.S., ramped-up Iranian nuclear enrichment, and the Israel-Hamas war.

Iran's ultra-conservative Guardian Council, which ultimately decides who is allowed on the ballot, has approved a list of six candidates to run for the presidency. Most are hardliners who hold staunch anti-Western positions, with one candidate representing the reformist camp. Women who had registered as candidates were all disqualified by the Council.

"Six out of 80 candidates made it past the Guardian Council's vetting process. Of these six, five are genuine hardliners and one a token reformist," Behnam ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CNBC.

He described Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei⁠ as the country's "only 'voter' of significance."

He's "looking for continuity, not change,"