Masoud Pezeshkian leads in the second round of the Iranian Presidential Election

Published at: 05/07/2024 10:57 PM

The reformist Masoud Pezeshkian leads in the second round of the Presidential Elections in Iran, obtaining 12 million 704 thousand 910 votes, compared to 10 million 474 thousand 238 cast in favor of the conservative Saeed Jalili, according to preliminary results, the Russia Today portal reported.

He specifies that the data refer to 23 million 646 thousand 138 ballots counted, while the counting of the votes of these early elections continues, in which they will choose between the reformist deputy representing the city of Tabriz in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Pezeshkian and the member of the Discernment Council, Jalili.

It also points out that more than 30 million voters went to the polls this Friday, July 5, on an election day that was extended three times, until midnight, to meet the needs of a higher turnout compared to the first round.

In this way, nearly half of the population able to vote suffrayed. In total, around 61 million people could choose this year's presidential elections, including about 10 million Iranians residing abroad.

Jalili, 58, ran unsuccessfully in the 2013 presidential elections against Hassan Rouhani, while in 2021 he withdrew from the race to support Ebrahim Raisi.

In the past, he served as a diplomat and from 2007 to 2013 he held the position of secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, the country's highest security body, in addition to leading Tehran's negotiations with world powers over the Iranian nuclear program.

Pezeshkian, 69, is a heart surgeon turned politician who served as Minister of Health in the 2000s and as first vice-president of Parliament from 2016 to 2020.

In the first round, held on June 28, none of the candidates exceeded 50% of the votes. Masoud Pezeshkian won 10.4 million votes (42.45%), followed by Jalili with 9.4 million votes (38.61%).

The elections were called after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, along with other senior officials, on May 19, when the helicopter he was traveling in crashed in a mountainous area.

Mazo News Team