Iran's presidential election heads to runoff
Iran’s sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and conservative Saeed Jalili are set to face each other in a runoff after securing the highest number of votes in the presidential election, according to the interior ministry.
“None of the candidates could garner the absolute majority of the votes, therefore, the first and second contenders who got the most votes will be referred to the Guardian Council for the second round scheduled for July 5,” said Mohsen Eslami, an interior ministry spokesman.
Tight race and runoff likely in Iran's presidential election
Early, fluctuating results from Iran’s presidential election on Saturday showed a tight race between reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and hard-liner Saeed Jalili, with the lead alternating between the two candidates and a runoff vote appearing likely.
Iranian state television reported early results that did not show either candidate in a position to win Friday’s election outright, potentially leading to a runoff to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi.
According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, the turnout was 41 percent.
With over 12 million votes counted, Pezeshkian had over 5 million, while Jalili held 4.8 million. Hard-line parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf had approximately 1.6 million votes, and Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had more than 95,000 votes.
Voters chose between three hard-line candidates and the relatively unknown reformist Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon.
The election occurred amid rising tensions in the Middle East due to the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.
