iran-set-to-elect-new-president-by-saturday-morning

Iran is expected to have a new President by Saturday morning, informed Iraj Elahi, the Islamic Republic's envoy to India.

 

"Today, we are holding the second round of the presidential election. More than 700 polling centres are accepting votes from Iranians. We hope that by tomorrow morning, we will have a new President," Elahi stated after casting his vote at a special polling centre in New Delhi.

 

Elahi emphasised that the nation's foreign and internal policies "will not change" regardless of the election outcome.

 

The snap presidential election was necessitated by the demise of President Ebrahim Raisi, who tragically perished in a helicopter crash on May 19.

 

Raisi, the Islamic Republic's eighth President, was elected in 2021, with the next election originally scheduled for 2025.

 

Friday's second round of polling follows the first round on June 28, where no candidate secured a majority.

 

Voter turnout in the first phase was 39.93%, the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

 

The two candidates advancing to the second and final round are Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, and Saeed Jalili, a hardline conservative.

 

In the first round, Pezeshkian secured 10,415,991 votes, while Jalili garnered 9,473,298 votes.

 

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has urged citizens to participate in this "deciding round" of the election process.