Presidential Election in Home Stretch, Iranians Choosing Between Pezeshkian, Jalili
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili are facing off in the showdown to become the next president of Iran.
Iran is holding runoff presidential election on Friday, July 5, after none of the four candidates could garner over 50% of the votes last week.
A total of 24,535,185 votes were cast in the last week’s polls, translating into a turnout of 39.92%, as over 61,452,000 people were eligible to vote.
Pezeshkian had won 10,415,991 votes, equivalent to 42.45% of the ballots. The runner-up, Jalili, had secured 38.61% of the votes with 9,473,298 ballots.
The two hopefuls put a lot of energy into their election campaigns during the past six days.
Masoud Pezeshkian, born on September 29, 1954, in Mahabad, West Azarbaijan Province, is a former health minister and current Tabriz representative in the Iranian Parliament.
A seasoned lawmaker, he served as deputy Parliament speaker and held the Health Ministry portfolio under President Khatami from 2001 to 2005.
Saeed Jalili, born on September 6, 1965, is currently serving as a member of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran.
He has been also representing Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in the Supreme National Security Council of Iran since July 2008.
Jalili previously held the position of chief nuclear negotiator from 2007 to 2013. He also served as a deputy for European and American Affairs at the Foreign Ministry.
The election takes place a year ahead of schedule, as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi passed away in May.
A helicopter carrying President Raisi and his entourage crashed in northwestern mountainous forests on May 19, killing the president, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six others.