Counting votes in Iranian presidential elections: Pezeshkian and Jalili are in the lead, second round expected

On Friday, June 28, early presidential elections were held in Iran, scheduled after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a plane crash on May 19. Results are being processed.

As of the morning of June 29, after 12 million votes had been counted (there are approximately 61 million voters in Iran), former Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian, considered a reformer, is leading by a small margin. Close behind him is conservative Saeed Jalili, the spiritual leader’s representative on the Islamic Republic’s Security Council.

To win, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes. Otherwise, a second round will be held on July 5, in which the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round will participate.

Judging by the preliminary results, it is likely that neither Pezeschkian nor Jalili will receive more than 50% of the votes and will advance to the second round, where the conservative will have a preferential chance, since the voters who supported the three conservative politicians on June 28 will not have another candidate.

The President in Iran is formally considered the head of state. But in reality, the country is ruled by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei.