According to preliminary results released by the Interior Ministry on Saturday, ultraconservative Saeed Jalili and reformist contender Masoud Pezeshkian are leading in Iran’s presidential contest.
Pezeshkian has received almost 8,300,000 votes, while Jalili—a veteran nuclear negotiator—has received over 7,100,000, according to the most recent tally.
If the present pattern holds, both candidates will compete in a runoff scheduled for July 5. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote plus one, a runoff election is necessary.
According to the Interior Ministry, almost 19,000,000 votes have been counted thus far.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the conservative speaker of parliament, received 2,600,000 votes, placing him third in the preliminary results.
With 158,314 votes, hardline priest Mostafa Pourmohammadi was the fourth contender.
The poll, which was prompted by the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month, allowed about 61 million Iranians to cast ballots.
Amid rising tensions in the area over the Gaza War, a disagreement with the West on Iran’s nuclear program, and domestic unrest regarding the country’s crippled economy due to sanctions, the election is taking place.
The Guardian Council, which evaluates every candidate, gave the go-ahead for the four candidates to run. Raisi came to power in 2021 as a result of the Council disqualifying a large number of moderates and reformists before the last election.
