Conservative and reformist advance to second round of Iranian elections

Conservative Saeed Jalili and reformist Masoud Pezeshkian have advanced to the second round of the Iranian presidential elections, IRNA reports .

None of the candidates managed to get more than 50% of the votes needed to win. Thus, Jalili received more than 10.4 million votes, Pezeshkian - almost 9.5 million. In total, more than 24.5 votes were counted.

The second round of elections will take place on July 5.

Jalili first ran in the elections in 2013. He initially planned to run in the 2021 elections, but later supported the candidacy of Ibrahim Raisi, who became president. Former Iranian MP Masoud Pezeshkian, unlike Jalili, advocates renewing the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program and negotiations with the West.

Snap presidential elections in Iran were called after the country's president, Ibrahim Raisi, died in a plane crash. It occurred in mid-May in the province of East Azerbaijan. In addition to Raisi, the crash also killed the country's foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the governor of the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammed Ali Ale-Hashem.

After the crash, Iran's state news agency Mehr initially claimed that Raisi was "okay" and had driven away from the scene. The article was later removed.

Raisi, as president, tightened morality laws and brutally suppressed anti-government protests. Raisi also pushed for nuclear talks with world powers.

To get the main news faster, subscribe to our telegram and twitter .