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Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian leads hard-liner Saeed Jalili in Iran presidential runoff election

bozemandailychronicle.com 2024/10/5
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian’s lead over hard-liner Saeed Jalili has widened to over 2 million votes as counting continues in Iran’s presidential runoff election

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Iran Election
This combination of photos shows Iranian presidential election candidates Masoud Pezeshkian, left, a reformist lawmaker and a former Health Minister, and Saeed Jalili, a hard-line former senior nuclear negotiator, during their campaigns, in Tehran, Iran.
Iran Election
Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian waves as he arrives to vote at a polling station in Shahr-e-Qods near Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 5, 2024. Iranians began voting Friday in a runoff election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East.
Iran Election
Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian clenches his fist after casting his vote as he is accompanied by former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, at a polling station in Shahr-e-Qods near Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 5, 2024. Iranians are voting in a runoff election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a May helicopter crash in the country’s northwest along with the foreign minister and several other officials.
Iran Election
Candidate for the Iran's presidential election Saeed Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator, casts his vote for the presidential runoff election at a polling station in Qarchak near Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 5, 2024. Iran was holding a runoff presidential election Friday pitting a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist lawmaker, though both men earlier struggled to convince a skeptical public to cast ballots in the first round that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic's history.
Iran Election
Candidate for the Iran's presidential election Saeed Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator, shakes hand with a supporter after casting his vote for the presidential runoff election in Qarchak near Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 5, 2024. Iran was holding a runoff presidential election Friday pitting a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist lawmaker, though both men earlier struggled to convince a skeptical public to cast ballots in the first round that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic's history.
Iran Election
A policeman casts his vote for the presidential election in a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 5, 2024. Iran held a runoff presidential election on Friday that pitted a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist lawmaker.
Iran Election
A woman gets her ballot to vote for the presidential election in a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, early Saturday, July 6, 2024. Iran held a runoff presidential election on Friday that pitted a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist lawmaker.
Iran Election
A woman casts her vote for the presidential election in a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 5, 2024. Iran held a runoff presidential election on Friday that pitted a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist lawmaker.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian's lead against hard-liner Saeed Jalili widened early Saturday to over 2 million votes as counting continued in Iran's presidential runoff election.

Mohsen Eslami, an election spokesperson, said Pezeshkian had 11.1 million votes, leading Jalili’s 9 million. He gave no total turnout figure as counting went on.

The first round of voting 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.

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