Masoud Pezeshkian wins run-off Iran presidential election

Masoud Pezeshkian has won Friday’s Iran Presidential election against Saeed Jalili, Iranian media citing its sources reported Saturday.

Iran turned out in higher number then the first round to chose a successor to late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May. He was accompanied by the foreign minister and other officials.

“By gaining majority of the votes cast on Friday, Pezeshkian has become Iran’s next president,” the ministry said.

The Associated Press news agency said that a vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million after election.

Meanwhile, the 58-year-old, Saeed Jalili, a hard-liner who is a former negotiator with the West over Iran’s contentious nuclear program, is currently conceding against Pezeshkian, 69.

“The vote counting has ended and the rival candidates have been informed about the result. Pezeshkian is around three million votes ahead of his hardline rival Saeed Jalili,” said a source to Reuters news agency.

According to State TV polling stations opened their doors to voters at 8 a.m. local time (0430 GMT/UTC) and stayed open until midnight (2030 GMT).

The final result will be announced on Saturday (today).

There are some 60,000 polling stations and more than 61 million eligible voters in Iran amid a population of 85 million.

Initial reports indicating a turnout of around 50%, higher than in the first round.