Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran's presidential election

Masoud Pezeshkian, a former health minister and reformist candidate, has emerged victorious in Iran's extraordinary presidential election second round.

The announcement was made by Mohsen Eslami, the official spokesperson for Iran's election headquarters, Caliber.Az reports citing Iranian media.

He informed journalists that after processing all 30.530 million ballots, Pezeshkian secured 16.384 million votes, representing at least 53.6 per cent of the total count.

Conservative Saeed Jalili, the representative of Iran's leader in the republic's Supreme National Security Council, received 13.538 million votes - 44.3 per cent.

According to official figures, voter turnout was 49.8 per cent. In the second round of voting, Eslami said 30.530 million voters took part, while a total of about 61 million people have the right to vote in Iran. In the first round of the presidential election, the turnout was about 40 per cent, the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic.

Iran conducted its second round of an exceptional presidential election on July 5, prompted by the tragic death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19 in East Azerbaijan province, along with several other officials including Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdollahian.

The initial round of voting on June 28 did not yield a winner as no candidate garnered more than 50 per cent of the vote. Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili advanced to the runoff, outpacing other contenders such as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and former Interior and Justice Ministry head Mostafa Pourmohammadi.

Pezeshkian, a reformist figure born in 1954 in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, graduated in cardiac surgery from the University of Medical Sciences of Iran. His career spans roles as a military doctor during the Iran-Iraq War, leadership at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences from 1994 to 1999, and serving as Minister of Health from 2001 to 2005 in Mohammad Khatami's reformist government. He also served as first deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020.

Despite twice attempting to run for president, Pezeshkian withdrew his 2013 candidacy in support of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and was barred by the Council of Guardians of the Constitution from running in 2021. He advocates for resolving Iran's economic challenges, including sanctions, through renegotiating the Tehran nuclear agreement with the U.S. and Western nations.

After the voting results, Pezeshkian addressed his opponents in the electoral process.

"I will extend the hand of friendship to everyone and involve everyone in the development of the country. The rivals are my brothers," he emphasized.