Tehran (MidLand) – Masoud Pezeshkian, a veteran reformist parliamentarian, has been elected the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran after defeating conservative party rival Saeed Jalili in the second round of the presidential election.
Pezeshkian, Anadolu reported, garnered 16,384,403 votes out of 30,530,157 counted on Saturday. Meanwhile, Jalili trailed with 13,538,179 votes in the second round, resulting in a relatively higher voter turnout.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time across the country on Friday, and voting expanded three times before peaking at midnight with more than 30 million voters.
The turnout for the second round of elections was recorded at over 50% of the total population, much higher than the turnout for the first round of 40% and the turnout for the 2021 presidential election of 48.8%.
According to official data, around 61 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the elections, in addition to around 10 million Iranians living abroad.
The counting of votes began as soon as the polls closed at midnight, and the number of votes for the first phase was announced by the Ministry of the Interior at 2.30 am.
Pezeshkian initially had a narrow lead with 1.26 million votes to Jalili’s 1.24 million. However, as the counting continued, the gap between the two candidates widened.
The final count was announced by the Interior Ministry around 6:45 a.m. with Pezeshkian receiving more than 16.3 million votes compared to Jalili’s 13.5 million votes, far more than the conservative candidate.
In the June 28 election, Pezeshkian received 10.4 million votes out of 24.5 million votes counted, and Jalili came in second with 9.4 million.
Pezeshkian will replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19 along with seven others. Pezeshkian previously served as health minister in the government of Mohammad Khatami (2001-2005) and has represented Tabriz in parliament since 2008.
A cardiologist, Pezeshkian also heads the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, one of the leading medical institutions in northern Iran.
His two previous failed presidential bids came in 2013 and 2021, respectively.
Source: Anadolu
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Translator: Kuntum Khaira Riswan
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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