Iran presidential poll heads for runoff between reformist Pezeshkian and hardliner Jalili

No candidate secured the required 50 per cent of votes in election that saw record low turnout

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian casts his ballot in the Iranian presidential election, in Tehran. AP Photo

Iran's sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili are set to go to a runoff after securing the most votes in Iran's presidential elections, the interior ministry said on Saturday.

“None of the candidates could garner the absolute majority of the votes. Therefore, the first and second contenders who got the most votes will be referred to the Guardian Council” for the second round scheduled for July 5, said ministry spokesman Mohsen Eslami.

With more than 24 million ballots counted, Mr Pezeshkian led with over 10 million votes, ahead of hard-line former nuclear negotiator Mr Jalili who garnered 9.4 million votes, according to provisional results released by the ministry.

Iranian law requires that a winner gets more than 50 per cent of all votes cast.

Around 61 million Iranians were eligible to vote in Friday's elections, originally scheduled for 2025 but which were brought forward by the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.

Turnout was about 40 per cent, according to interior ministry data released on Saturday – the lowest on record since the 1979 revolution.

The Guardian Council, which vets electoral candidates in the Islamic republic, had originally approved six contenders.

But a day ahead of the election, two candidates – the ultraconservative mayor of Tehran, Alireza Zakani, and Raisi's vice president Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi – dropped out of the race.

Conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf received about 3,383,340 votes and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a conservative cleric, had 206,397 votes.

In the 2021 elections that brought Raisi to power, the Guardian Council disqualified many reformists and moderates, prompting many voters to shun the polls. The turnout then was just under 49 per cent.

Power in Iran ultimately lies with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, so the result will not herald any major policy shift on the country's nuclear programme or its support for militia groups across the Middle East.

But the president runs the government day-to-day and can influence the tone of Iran's policies.

The election coincides with escalating regional tension due to the war between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased western pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme.

In April, Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region – such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels – are engaged in fighting and have escalated their attacks.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build, should it choose to do so, several nuclear weapons.

While the election is unlikely to bring a major shift in the Islamic Republic's policies, its outcome could influence the succession to its 85-year-old supreme leader, in power since 1989.

The clerical establishment sought a high turnout to offset a legitimacy crisis fuelled by public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedom.

Mr Pezeshkian's views offer a contrast to those of Mr Jalili, advocating detente with the West, economic reform, social liberalisation and political pluralism.

A staunch anti-westerner, a win by Mr Jalili would signal the possibility of an even more antagonistic turn in Iran's foreign and domestic policy, analysts said.

With reporting from agencies