While ballots are still being counted in Iran‘s presidential election on Saturday, the sole reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, is making an unexpectedly strong showing. Close behind is the hardliner and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
The two are headed to a runoff presidential election on Friday to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
Mohsen Eslami, an election spokesman, announced that 24.5 million votes were cast with Pezeshkian getting 10.4 million while Jalili received 9.4 million, The Associated Press reported. Iranian law requires that a winner get more than 50% of all votes cast. If not, the race’s top two candidates advance to a runoff a week later.
Pezeshkian is on record as wanting to bring Iran in from the cold of international sanctions and improve relations with the West.
That made him the obvious choice for Nima Saranghi, who works in marketing.
“I decided to vote for a …