Source: CNN
“A reformist candidate won the most votes in the first round of Iran’s presidential election and will face a conservative hardliner in a run-off next week. None of the four candidates secured more than 50% of the vote in Friday’s election, prompting a second round on July 5. The election saw the lowest voter turnout for a presidential election since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. Reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who received the most votes, will face off in the runoff, according to Mohsen Eslami, the spokesperson for the election committee. Pezeshkian led with 42.5% of the votes, followed by Jalili with 38.6%, according to the state news agency IRNA.” (06/29/24)