Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran's presidential runoff election, beating Saeed Jalili
Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian clenches his fist after casting his vote. (AP: Vahid Salemi)
In short:
Former heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran's runoff presidential election on Saturday, besting hardliner Saeed Jalili.
A vote count offered by authorities put Mr Pezeshkian as the winner, with 16.3 million votes to Mr Jalili's 13.5 million in Friday's election.
What's next?
Mr Pezeshkian's win sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high over the Israel-Hamas war, Iran's advancing nuclear program, and a looming US election that could put any chance of a détente between Tehran and Washington at risk.
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran's runoff presidential election on Saturday, besting hardliner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country's mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.
Mr Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran's Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country.
But even Mr Pezeshkian's modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hardliners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.
Masoud Pezeshkian, left, and Saeed Jalili, during their campaigns. (AP: Vahid Salemi)
A vote count offered by authorities put Mr Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Mr Jalili's 13.5 million in Friday's election.
Supporters of Mr Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime politician, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Mr Jalili, a hardline former nuclear negotiator.
"Dear people of Iran, the elections are over and this is just the beginning of our cooperation," Mr Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X, still banned in Iran.
"The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy and trust. I extend my hand to you and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path.
"Do not leave me alone."
"I don't expect anything from him — I am happy that the vote put the brake on hardliners," said bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Mr Pezeshkian.
"I hope Mr Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow."
Taher Khalili, a Kurdish-origin Iranian who runs a small tailor shop in Tehran, offered another reason to be hopeful while handing out candy to passers-by.
"In the end, someone from my hometown and the west of Iran came to power," Mr Khalili said. "I hope he will make economy better for small businesses."
The first round of voting on June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country's Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran's economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.
Government officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted a higher participation rate as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centres across the country.
Masoud Pezeshkian faces heightened regional tensions. (AP: Vahid Salemi)
However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in the capital, Tehran, saw light traffic amid a heavy security presence on the streets.
The election came amid heightened regional tensions.
In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.
Iran is also enriching uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so.
Masoud Pezeshkian won by 3 million votes. (AP: Vahid Salemi)
The campaign also repeatedly touched on what would happen if former president Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election.
Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden's administration, though there has been no clear movement back toward constraining Tehran's nuclear program for the lifting of economic sanctions.
More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6pm but was extended until midnight to boost participation.
The late president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, was seen as a protégé of Mr Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.
Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.
AP