Iran: Pezeshkian, Jalili lead in latest official vote count

Shafaq News/ Iranians voted for a new president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, choosing from a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei at a time of growing public frustration.

Polls closed at about midnight local time (20:30 GMT) on Friday after a series of extensions to allow more people to vote, with Iranian officials pushing for a high turnout.

Prominent among the remaining hardliners are Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, parliament speaker and former commander of the air force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator who served for four years in Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office.

The sole comparative centrist, Masoud Pezeshkian, is faithful to Iran's theocratic rule but advocates detente with the West, economic reform, social liberalization, and political pluralism.

Almost 40% of eligible voters, around 24 million people, cast their ballots in Iran's presidential election, according to unofficial figures.

Out of 61,452,321 eligible voters inside and outside the country, the Interior Ministry had announced earlier on Saturday that more than 12 million ballots have been counted so far. Pro-reform candidate Masoud Pezeshkian is leading with about 5,000,000 votes. He is followed by Saeed Jalili with almost 4,900,000 votes, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf with 1,600,000 votes, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi with 95,000 votes.

If these figures remain unchanged, a runoff election between the two top candidates on July 5 will decide the country's next president, as the winner must secure at least 50% of the votes.

The next president is not expected to usher in any significant policy changes regarding the country's nuclear program or support for military groups across the Middle East, as Sayyed Khamenei holds authority over top state matters. However, the president runs the government and can influence the tone of foreign and domestic policy.

All four candidates have promised to revive the flagging economy, beset by mismanagement, state corruption, and sanctions reimposed since 2018 after the United States abandoned Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers.