Reformist Pezeshkian wins Iran presidential election

The turnout in the runoff election was recorded at more than 50%, significantly higher than the first-round turnout of 40% and the 2021 presidential election turnout of 48.8%.

Around 61 million Iranians were eligible to vote in the election, according to official data, apart from around 10 million Iranians living overseas.

The vote count started immediately after polls closed at midnight and the first update was announced by the Interior Ministry at 2:30 a.m.

In the initial update, Pezeshkian was slightly ahead with 1.26 million votes against 1.24 million for Jalili.

As the count progressed, however, the gap widened between the two candidates.

The final update was announced by the Interior Ministry around 6:45 a.m. with Pezeshkian securing more than 16.3 million votes against Jalili’s 13.5 million.

In the June 28 election, Pezeshkian had 10.4 million votes out of 24.5 million votes counted. Jalili ended in second with 9.4 million.

Even before the final results were announced, supporters of the reformist lawmaker from the northwestern city of Tabriz took to the streets in Tehran and other cities to celebrate his win.

Pezeshkian will replace Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash May 19 along with seven others.

Pezeshkian previously served as health minister in the government of Mohammad Khatami (2001-2005) in addition to representing Tabriz in parliament since 2008.

A cardiologist by practice, Pezeshkian also headed the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, one of the leading medical institutions in northern Iran.

His two previous unsuccessful bids for the presidency came in 2013 and 2021, respectively.