Iran’s Presidential Election Snapshot
The low-key moderate candidate is leading the vote count in Iran’s snap presidential election among a tightly controlled group of four candidates loyal to the supreme leader at a time of growing public frustration and Western pressure.
With over 3.8 million ballots from Friday’s election counted so far, Massoud Pezeshkian won over 1,595,000 votes and his hardline challenger former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili gained about 1,594,000, Interior ministry official Mohsen Eslami told state TV early Saturday.
While the election is unlikely to bring a major shift in the Islamic Republic’s policies, its outcome could influence the succession to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old supreme leader, in power since 1989.
Three candidates are hardliners and one is a low-profile comparative moderate, backed by the reformist faction that has largely been sidelined in Iran in recent years.
Pezeshkian is faithful to Iran’s theocratic rule, but advocates detente with the West, economic reform, social liberalisation and political pluralism.
The unrest sparked by Amini’s death spiralled into the biggest show of opposition to Iran’s clerical rulers in recent years.