
Iran holds runoff presidential vote pitting hardliner against reformist
Voice of America
An Iranian voter displays her ink-stained finger after casting her ballot at a polling station in Tehran on July 5, 2024. Iran's runoff presidential election pits reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili. Iranian presidential candidate and ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, center, casts his ballot at a polling station in Tehran on July 5, 2024. Iranian presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian waves at the crowd during the runoff presidential election in Tehran on July 5, 2024. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Iranians voted Friday in a runoff presidential election between a hard-line former nuclear negotiator and a reformist lawmaker, with both men trying to convince a skeptical public to cast ballots after years of economic woes and mass protests roiling the Islamic Republic.

Local officials and navy personnel attend a joint Iranian, Russian and Chinese military drill in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 12, 2025. (Iranian Army Office via AFP) Chinese navy troops attending a joint naval drill with Iran and Russia stand on the deck of their warship in an official arrival ceremony at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 11, 2025.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves as he arrives for Mauritius' 57th National Day celebrations at the Champ De Mars, Port Louis, Mauritius, March 12, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and his Mauritius counterpart Navin Ramgoolam pay homage after laying a wreath at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden during his State visit, in Pamplemousses, Mauritius, March 11, 2025. FILE - Sailors walk on the deck of the INS Imphal, a stealth guided-missile destroyer, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Dec. 22, 2023.

Police officers guard the Palace of the Republic after Bosnian prosecutors ordered the detention of three top Bosnian Serb officials over a series of separatist actions, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, March 12, 2025. FILE - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, Dec. 29, 2023.

Passengers who were rescued from a train after it was attacked by separatist militants, walk with their belongings at the Railway Station in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, March 12, 2025. A passenger who was rescued from a train after it was attacked by separatist militants receives medical aid at the Mach Railway Station in Mach, Balochistan, Pakistan, March 11, 2025. Passengers rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents, receive water bottles upon their arrival at a railway station in Quetta, Pakistan, March 12, 2025. Balochistan province, Pakistan

FILE - Visitors wearing face masks stand near a display showing an electronic map of China at the PT Expo in Beijing, June 4, 2023. The annual expo showcases Chinese and foreign technology firms. FILE - A Unitree H1 robot is displayed at a Unitree booth at the CES tech show Jan. 8, 2025, in Las Vegas.