Tehran: The final result of Iran’s 14th presidential election will be decided in a runoff between top contenders Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili on July 5, said Spokesman of Iran’s Election Headquarters Mohsen Eslami.
Announcing the first round’s results at a press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran on Saturday, Eslami said Pezeshkian and Jalili garnered 10,415,991 (42.6 per cent) and 9,473,298 (38.8 per cent) votes respectively.
The two candidates will now face a runoff to determine who will assume the country’s top executive position, Xinhua news agency reported. Eslami added the other two candidates, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, collected 3,383,340 (13.8 per cent) and 206,397 (0.8 per cent) votes respectively. He put the total number of votes at 24,535,185, noting that the turnout stood at 40 per cent.
The voting for the presidential election began at 8 a.m. Friday local time at 58,640 polling stations across the country and abroad, and lasted until midnight, after being extended three times, with each extension lasting for two hours. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cast the first ballot at a polling station and made a brief speech calling for the unity of the Iranian people during the election.
To secure the presidency, a candidate must obtain more than 50 per cent of the total votes in the first round. For the run-off, whoever gets more votes will claim the victory. Currently serving as a lawmaker, Pezeshkian previously held the position of Health Minister. Jalili, on the other hand, is a member of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran and previously served as a top negotiator for Iran’s nuclear talks with world powers.
Iran’s 14th presidential election, which had initially been set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.
IANS
