2024-07-06 08:49:58
Tehran: The results of the presidential election in Iran have come. Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won the presidential election by defeating conservative Saeed Jalili. Election Commission spokesman Mohsen Eslami said that 49.8 percent voting took place in the country. About 30 million votes were cast to elect a new president. In the data presented by the officials after Friday’s election, Pezeshkian was declared the winner with 16.3 million votes, while Jalili got 13.5 million votes. Iran’s heart surgeon and MP Masoud Pezeshkian promised to reach out to the West during the election campaign and people preferred him over Saeed Jalili. Pezeshkian’s supporters celebrated by coming out on the streets on Saturday morning as he took a lead over Jalili. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had called for more voting, stressing the importance of the election. The election in Iran has taken place at a time when there is tension over the Gaza war. Iran also has a dispute with the West over its nuclear program and many types of sanctions are affecting its economy.
Masood was the only reformist who contested the election
According to data from Iran’s election authority, Pezeshkian was the only reformist leader who was allowed to contest the election. There was no special discussion about Pezeshkian’s candidature till recently, but his candidature got strength due to the support of former President Mohammad Khatami and liberal Hassan Rouhani. During the campaign, 69-year-old Pezeshkian especially emphasized on constructive relations with Western countries to revive the nuclear deal to take Iran out of isolation in the world.
The Guardian Council of the country decides who will contest the elections in Iran. The Guardian Council had approved the names of four candidates. In the first stage, no candidate could get the required 50 percent votes. After this, it became necessary to conduct a run-off poll, in which the top two candidates contested. In this contest, reformist leader Masoud Pezeshkian defeated conservative Saeed Jalili and got a chance to become the next President of Iran. Apart from being an MP, Pezeshkian has also been the Health Minister in Mohammad Khatami’s government. Saeed Jalili has been Iran’s former Chief Nuclear Negotiator. 58-year-old Jalili is known for his anti-West stance.