Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian has been elected as the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, securing 16,384,403 out of 30,530,157 total votes. His closest rival, Saeed Jalili, garnered 13,538,179 votes, resulting in a victory margin of over two million votes.
The final results were announced by Iran’s election headquarters after the vote count concluded. Pezeshkian and Jalili were the leading candidates from the June 28 snap presidential election, vying for the top executive position.
Election spokesperson Mohsen Eslami confirmed Pezeshkian’s victory after a closely contested race against Jalili. The vote count started immediately after polls closed, following a 16-hour voting process that saw over 50 percent voter turnout.
Voting was extended three times on Friday due to high turnout, closing finally at midnight. More than 30 million votes were cast, with large numbers of voters turning out in Tehran and other regions, responding to a call from Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
This snap election was necessitated by the tragic death of President Ebrahim Raeisi in a helicopter crash on May 19. Over 61 million Iranians were eligible to vote, with an additional 10 million abroad.
The high voter turnout was marked by long queues at polling stations nationwide.
