TEHRAN (AFP)- Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s lone reformist contender, and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili advanced to a runoff presidential election after leading in the first round, an official announced on Saturday.
According to Mohsen Eslami, spokesperson for Iran’s electoral administration, Pezeshkian received over 10,400,000 votes, while Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator, received more over 9,400,000.
“None of the candidates could garner the absolute majority of the votes, therefore, the first and second contenders who got the most votes will be referred” for the second round, set for next Friday, Eslami told a news conference.
He stated that out of over 61 million eligible voters, approximately 24,500,000 went to the polls, with a turnout of nearly 40%, the lowest in the Islamic republic’s history.
Only one of Iran’s 13 prior presidential elections since the Islamic revolution in 1979 resulted in a runoff, in 2005.
