Reformist and ultra-conservative candidates to contest Iran's presidential election run-offs
Reformist candidate Masud Pezeshkian and ultra-conservative Said Jalili will contest Iran's presidency on July 5, after leading in Friday's first round results marked by the lowest turnout since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"None of the candidates won an absolute majority" in the first round on Friday, so there will be a run-off between the top two vote-getters on 5 July, Mohsen Eslami, spokesman for the Interior Ministry's election office, told reporters.
Of the 24.54 million ballots counted, MP Masud Pezeshkian received 10.41 million votes, 42% of the vote, and Said Jalili, who was involved in international negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, 9.47 million, 38%.
Of the 14 presidential elections held since the 1979 Islamic revolution, only one has so far been decided in a run-off, in 2005.
Both candidates were clearly ahead of the conservative speaker of parliament, Mohamad Bagher Ghalibaf, with 3.38 million votes, and the fourth contender, Mostafa Purmohammadi, the only religious candidate in the race, with 206,397 votes.
Some 61 million voters were called to the polls on Friday, but only 24.54 million, or 40 per cent, cast their ballots. Some opponents, particularly from the Iranian diaspora, had called for a boycott of the elections.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest office in the Islamic Republic's political and religious structure, had on Friday encouraged voters to take the ballot seriously and participate in it.
During the 2021 presidential election, in which no reformist or moderate candidate had been allowed to run, the abstention rate reached 51%, which was a record at the time.
The elections had to be rushed following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on 19 May.
These elections are attracting international attention because Iran, a Middle Eastern heavyweight, is at the centre of several crises, from the war in Gaza to the issue of its nuclear programme.
Iran's president has limited powers and is responsible for implementing, at the head of the government, the main policy lines set by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Very different candidates
The second round will pit two candidates with very different profiles and programmes against each other.
Pezeshkian, the 69-year-old reformist candidate, is an MP from Tabriz, a city in north-western Iran. His governmental experience is limited. He served as health minister from 2001 to 2005 during the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami.
The candidate became known for his outspokenness, and did not hesitate to criticise the government during the protest movement that rocked the country after the death of young Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022 for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.
With his discreet appearance, this doctor of Azeri origin advocates a rapprochement between Iran and Western countries, with the United States at the forefront, to lift the sanctions that are hitting the economy hard.
Said Jalili, on the other hand, favours an inflexible policy towards Western powers. The 58-year-old candidate demonstrated this during the six years he was involved in negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme between 2007 and 2013.
Throughout his career, Jalili rose to key positions thanks to the confidence of Ayatollah Khamenei. He is currently one of the two representatives of the Supreme National Security Council, the country's highest security body.