Iran Presidential Election Heads To Runoff Between Massoud Pezeshkian And Saeed Jalili On July 5

Iran's presidential election will enter a runoff between Massoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili after no candidate secured over 50% of the vote.

In Iran’s 14th presidential election, a runoff between Massoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili is slated for July 5, as announced by Mohsen Eslami, the spokesperson for Iran’s election headquarters. Voters participated on Friday in the election to choose a successor to deceased Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19. They get to choose from a controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader.

Eslami revealed on Saturday that the ballot boxes from 58,640 polling places across Iran and 344 international locations have been counted. With over 61 million eligible voters, the election results show a close fight between Pezeshkian and Jalili. Out of the 24,535,185 votes counted, Pezeshkian garnered 10,415,991 votes, while Jalili received 9,473,298, Iranian state media IRNA reported.

Another candidate, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, secured 3,383,340 votes, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi received 206,397 votes. Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Alireza Zakani had withdrawn their candidacies before the election.

As per the Iranian electoral law, if no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, a runoff between the top two candidates is scheduled for the first Friday after the results are announced.

Iran To Elect New President Examine By Supreme Leader Khamenei's Council

While the election may not make a big change in the policies of the Islamic Republic, the outcome could influence the succession of Iran’s supreme leader, Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, news agency Reuters reported. 

The election comes at a time when the tussle is running high due to the war between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Western pressure on Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear programme.

In order to combat the crisis of legitimacy brought on by public unhappiness with economic hardship and limitations on political and social freedom, Khamenei has called for a high voter turnout. "The durability, strength, dignity, and reputation of the Islamic Republic depend on the presence of people," Khamenei said to state television after casting his vote, as per Reuters. "High turnout is a definite necessity."