International Desk: The final result of the much-discussed Iranian presidential election has been announced. Even though the former health minister, Masud Pezheshkian, won 1 crore, 4 lakh, 15 thousand, 991 votes, he is not able to become president. Because he did not get 50 percent of the total votes received as a percentage, he got 42.54 percent.
And for this reason, the much-discussed presidential election in Iran has entered the ‘run-off’ or second phase.
Earlier, Mohsen Islami, spokesperson for the election headquarters established in the Ministry of Interior building in the capital Tehran, announced the final result at around 11:30 local time on Saturday.
It shows that former health minister Masud Pezheshkian won the first round by getting 1 crore, 4 lakh, 15 thousand, and 991 votes. His closest rival, former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, got 94 lakh, 73 thousand, and 340 votes. Although Pezheshkian received the most votes, he received 42.54 percent of the total votes as a percentage.
Besides, the remaining two candidates in the election, Parliament Speaker Baker Ghalibaf, got 33 lakh, 83 thousand, and 340 votes, and former Interior Minister Mustafa Pourmohammadi got 2 lakh, 6 thousand, and 397 votes.
Meanwhile, Iran’s presidential election has entered a run-off, or second round, after Pezeshkian, the winner of Friday’s election, failed to get more than 50 percent of the vote.
According to Iran’s constitution, if a candidate fails to receive more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff is held between the top two candidates. The date of the second phase of polling on July 5 has already been fixed.
Meanwhile, the top two candidates, Saeed Jalili and Masoud Pezeshkian, have already started campaigning for the second round of voting.
According to Iran’s electoral law, the top two candidates can start their campaigns from the moment the final results of the first round of elections are announced. Which will continue until 24 hours before the start of the second phase of voting.
Earlier, the voting period for Iran’s 14th presidential election was extended three times on Friday and finally ended at 12 p.m..
About 58,000 polling stations were set up across Iran for Friday’s voting. In addition, 314 polling stations were opened around the world for expatriate Iranian citizens living in 95 countries. Voting was held in those centers until 12 p.m. Iran time on Friday.
In this election, there were 60 million registered voters in Iran. A total of 2 crore, 45 lakh, 35 thousand, and 185 voters voted against this. In other words, 40 percent of the of the votes were cast in this year’s presidential election. The Ministry of Interior of Iran was responsible for completing the entire voting process.
The term of an elected president in Iran is basically four years. As such, the country’s presidential election was scheduled for June 2025. However, since President Ibrahim Raisi was killed in a tragic helicopter accident along with seven of his travel companions on May 19, this election was held a year earlier.
After the death of Ibrahim Raisi, according to the country’s constitution, the first vice president, Mohammad Mokhab, served as the acting president, and the election was held under his supervision. Source: IRNA
