Iranian presidential candidates Saeed Jalili, left, and Masoud Pezeshkian. Getty Images
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 10.5 million votes, followed by Jalili with nearly 9.5 million, according to the state news agency IRNA. Out of 60 million eligible voters, 24 million cast their ballots, resulting in a 40% turnout, Eslami said.
The results will be reviewed by the Guardian Council, the powerful 12-member body tasked with overseeing elections and legislation, before the two candidates start campaigning again.
The snap election was held after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash on May 19 in the country’s remote northwest, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials.
Four candidates were vying for the country’s top elected post after two conservative candidates dropped out of the race just a day before the elections to help the hardline candidates consolidate the conservative vote.
Pezeshkian was the only reformist candidate after dozens of other contenders were barred from running by the Guardian Council.
The Iranian electoral process has been marred by voter apathy of late, causing embarrassment to an establishment that has relied on high voter turnout to bolster its democratic credentials and popular legitimacy.
Elections in March for the parliament and the Assembly of Experts, an oversight body responsible for selecting the Supreme Leader’s successor, recorded the lowest turnout since the Islamic Republic’s founding, despite government efforts to rally voters ahead of the ballot.
Khamenei urged Iranians to head to the polls and vote after he cast his ballot in the election on Friday morning.
“People’s participation is part of the essence of the state and continuation of the existence of the Islamic Republic and its status in the world is tied to people’s participation”, he said.
Escalating tensions
The elections came at a delicate time for the Islamic Republic. The country is embroiled in escalating tensions with Israel and its Western allies, triggered by the war in Gaza and the advancement of Iran’s nuclear program.
The vote also takes place just two months after Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time as the Gaza conflict widened. Israel is now preparing for a potential second front with Hezbollah, Iran’s primary regional proxy, in Lebanon.
Iran’s fight with the US has left the economy in tatters, crippled by years of American sanctions, a weakening local currency and high inflation.
This was also Iran’s first presidential vote since protests swept the nation in 2022 in opposition to the hijab rules and other social issues. The movement was triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the notorious morality police after she was detained for not following the country’s strict dress code for women.
The nationwide discontent was evident in low voter turnout in both parliamentary and presidential elections in recent years. While Iran has boasted exceptionally high voter participation, its last legislative election in March recorded the lowest turnout since the Islamic Republic’s founding in 1979, despite government efforts to rally voters ahead of the ballot.
The country’s Supreme Leader is the final arbiter for most decisions in Iran, but the elected president will be the face of the Islamic Republic abroad.
