Reformist candidate Masoud Bezhskyian won the second round of the Iranian presidential elections on Saturday against conservative candidate Saeed Jalili, according to official media reports. Election officials have counted more than 30 million votes so far, with Bezhskyian receiving over 17 million votes and Jalili obtaining more than 13 million, according to results published by the Ministry of the Interior.
The Iranian Ministry of the Interior stated that moderate candidate Masoud Bezhskyian is leading his opponent according to preliminary results from the second round of the elections. The ministry added that after counting 2 million and 547 thousand votes, Bezhskyian garnered 1 million and 263 thousand votes, while his opponent, the former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who is affiliated with hardline conservatives, received 1 million and 244 thousand votes.
This second round follows a previous round on June 28, which saw unprecedented low turnout, with more than 60 percent of voters abstaining from early voting to select a president following the death of Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
In a statement yesterday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told state television after casting his vote, "I have been informed that people's enthusiasm and interest are higher than in the first round. I pray that this is the case, as it would be encouraging news." Khamenei acknowledged on Wednesday that "the turnout was lower than expected," but stated, "It is absolutely wrong to believe that those who did not vote in the first round are against the Islamic government."
Voter turnout has declined over the past four years, with only 48 percent of voters participating in the 2021 elections that brought Raisi to power, and turnout dropping to 41 percent in the parliamentary elections in March.
