Politics Reformer Peseshkian leads in Iran's presidential election

SDA

6.7.2024 - 04:42

dpatopbilder - The reform candidate for the Iranian presidential elections, Massud Peseschkian, waves in front of a polling station near Tehran. Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP
dpatopbilder - The reform candidate for the Iranian presidential elections, Massud Peseschkian, waves in front of a polling station near Tehran. Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP
Keystone

The moderate politician Massud Peseshkian is narrowly ahead in the presidential election in Iran. After a good 80 percent of the polling stations had been counted, the politician from the reformist camp was just ahead of the hardliner Said Jalili with around 12.7 million votes, as the spokesman for the electoral authority announced on state television on Saturday. The ultra-conservative challenger received 10.4 million votes.

Keystone-SDA

Around 61 million people were called to vote between Peseshkian and Jalili on Friday. The early election was called after the death of incumbent Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. The polling stations were open until late in the evening after being extended several times by the Ministry of the Interior.