Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian Wins Iranian Presidential Run-Off Election

Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, won the Iranian presidential run-off election, according to the interior ministry. The election took place on Friday, with Pezeshkian competing against Saeed Jalili.

About 50% of voters turned out, with around 30 million Iranians casting their ballots. Pezeshkian received over 16 million votes, while Jalili got about 13 million. Approximately 600,000 ballots were declared “spoiled.”

The run-off was held because no candidate secured more than 50% of the votes in the initial round, which saw a historically low turnout of 40%. In the first round, Pezeshkian led with 42% of the votes, followed by Jalili, a conservative and former nuclear negotiator, with 39%.

The presidential elections were moved up to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. These elections occur amid rising regional tensions due to conflicts involving Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, and increased Western pressure on Iran’s nuclear program.