Ayatollah Khamenei calls for Iran's presidential election after high first-round abstention rate

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday called on Iranians to vote in Friday's presidential election run-off, saying the historic first-round abstention was not an act "against the system". 

Reformist candidate Masud Pezeshkian and ultra-conservative Saeed Jalili will contest Iran's presidency on July 5 after topping the first round results last week, in an election brought forward by the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May. 

Only 40% of the 61 million voters cast their ballots in the first round, the lowest turnout in a presidential election since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

Ayatollah Khamenei declared that it is "completely wrong to think that those who did not vote in the first round are against the system," in a video broadcast on state television. 

But the "turnout was not as expected", added Khamenei, who holds the highest office in Iran's political and religious structure. 

Pezeshkian won 42.2% of the vote, while Jalili, who was involved in international negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme, came in second with 38.6%. 

As neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote, a run-off ballot will be held on Friday. 

"The second round of the presidential election is very important," Khamenei said, calling for a higher turnout. 

The vote will be held at a time of rising tensions in the region due to the war in the Gaza Strip, disputes with Western powers over Iran's nuclear programme and popular discontent over the country's economic situation affected by international sanctions.