In the aftermath of President Ebrahim Raisi's sudden demise in May, Iran gears up for a presidential runoff election this Friday. Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist candidate, will face off against hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in the race to succeed the late president.
Election spokesman Mohsen Eslami declared the results on Saturday, following the initial round of voting where neither candidate secured an absolute majority. The results, as reported by Iranian state television, revealed that Pezeshkian garnered 10.4 million votes, while Jalili secured 9.4 million.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf received a total of 3.3 million votes, while Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi obtained over 206,000 votes. Notably, Raisi himself, a staunch protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, passed away in a helicopter crash in May at the age of 63.
