Iran will hold a second round of presidential elections on July 5 after none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote in Friday's elections, the Interior Ministry announced on Saturday, Reuters reports.
The presidential elections held on Friday were called after the death of conservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.
With more than 24 million votes counted, the moderate, reformist candidate MP Masud Pezeshkian has over ten million votes and is ahead of the ultra-conservative diplomat Said Jalili who received over 9,4 million votes, according to provisional results published by the ministry.
Reuters said power in Iran ultimately rests with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, so the result will not herald any major policy change over Iran's nuclear program or its support for militia groups across the Middle East.
But the president runs the government on a day-to-day basis and can influence the tone of Iranian politics.
Four candidates, three conservatives and one reformer, participated in the elections in which 61 million voters had the right to vote.
In early June, the Council of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution approved six candidates to participate in the elections, but two withdrew from the race a day before the vote.
According to earlier results, based on the 14,07 million ballots counted by nine o'clock this morning, MP Masud Pezeshkiyan won 5,96 million votes and Said Jalili, a former negotiator for nuclear issues, 5,56 million votes.
At that time, they were significantly ahead of the conservative Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamad Baker Galibaf, who is third with 1,89 million votes, according to preliminary results.
Far behind is the fourth candidate Mostafa Purmohamadi, the only priest in the race, who won 112.000 votes.
The elections in Iran, an important Asian country at the center of geopolitical crises, from the Gaza war to the nuclear issue, in which it opposes Western countries, are being closely watched.
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