Iran's Constitutional Council has validated the results of the first round of the country's 14th presidential election, allowing candidates to begin their campaigns for the run-off.
Hadi Tahan Nazif, the council's spokesman, made the announcement during a televised interview with the state-run IRIB TV on Sunday. He confirmed that the council had reviewed and validated the election results after thorough investigations.
No objections were raised by any of the four candidates within the legal timeframe for complaints. With the validation, election campaigns are set to continue until Thursday morning, 24 hours before the run-off.
In the first round of voting, which began early on Friday and concluded at midnight after being extended three times, no candidate secured the majority required to declare a winner.
As a result, the election proceeds to a run-off scheduled for July 5, featuring the top contenders from the first round. Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's former Health Minister, who garnered over 42 percent of the votes, will face principlist Saeed Jalili, the former chief negotiator in the nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers, who received more than 38 percent of the votes.
This snap presidential election, originally planned for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of former President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.
The sudden vacancy led to the advancement of the election to address the urgent need for new leadership. The run-off between Pezeshkian and Jalili is expected to be a closely watched contest, reflecting the nation's current political dynamics and future direction.
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