Iran’s Reformist Pezeshkian Nears Win in Runoff Election
- Pezeshkian was widely expected to win according to local media
- Voter turnout projected to rebound from June 28’s historic low
Iran’s only reformist presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian widened his lead in the country’s runoff election against his staunchly anti-Western rival Saeed Jalili, according to the latest results broadcast on Iranian state television.
Pezeshkian had gained 12,704,910 votes, surpassing Jalili by more than 2.2 million votes, with more than two-thirds of the ballots counted. The results so far signal that Pezeshkian is poised to become Iran’s next president, following his strong performance in the first round where he led in votes but didn’t reach the necessary 50% mark for a clear victory.