On Saturday, June 29, an election spokesman announced that no candidate secured more than 50% of the 24.5 million votes cast in Iran’s presidential election. Former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili received 9.4 million votes, while heart surgeon and lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian garnered 10.4 million. The two will face off again in a runoff election scheduled for July 5.
Despite calls from the theocracy’s supreme leader, voter turnout was notably low, with only 39.9% of the 61 million eligible Iranians over the age of 18 participating, according to provisional results.
Saeed Jalili, a former deputy minister and a veteran of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, is known for his hardline stance. Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, has garnered support from some pro-reform groups.
This election follows the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19, which also killed seven senior officials. The only other runoff presidential election in Iran’s history occurred in 2005 when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeated former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
