Iran’s Presidential Election Moves To Runoff As No Candidate Secures Majority

Iran’s 14th presidential election on Saturday progressed to a runoff vote, with former Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian receiving 10 million votes, and former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili obtaining over 9 million, according to Iran’s Election Headquarters Spokesperson Mohsen Eslami.

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Eslami reported that Pezeshkian secured 42 percent of the total vote count, while Jalili garnered 38 percent. However, since neither candidate reached the minimum threshold of 50 percent of votes, a runoff election is necessary, as per Xinhua news agency.

The spokesperson mentioned a voter turnout of 40 percent among over 61 million eligible Iranian voters, with the runoff election scheduled for next Friday, July 5. Additionally, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf received 3,383,340 votes (13.8 percent), and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former interior and justice minister, obtained 206,397 votes (0.8 percent).

The election, held on Friday, was prompted by the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month. Voting took place at nearly 59,000 polling stations across more than 95 states, with over 61 million eligible voters.

Originally set for 2025, the 14th presidential election was reschedule following Raisi’s unexpected death. Six candidates were initially qualified to run: Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi (current Vice President), Alireza Zakani (Mayor of Tehran), Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (Parliamentary Speaker), Saeed Jalili (former top negotiator for nuclear talks), Mostafa Pourmohammadi (former Interior and Justice Minister), and Masoud Pezeshkian (former Health Minister). Later, Hashemi and Zakani, both principlist candidates, withdrew in favor of Qalibaf and Jalili, who are also part of the principlists’ camp.