Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran's presidential runoff election
Fox News
Masoud Pezeshkian has beat Saeed Jalili to win Iran's presidential runoff election; Pezeshkian promised outreach to the West and to ease enforcement of Iran's headscarf law.
A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election. Overall, Iran's Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognized monitors, representing a turnout of 49.6% — higher than the historic low of the June 28 first round vote but lower than other presidential races.
Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator. Pezeshkian later traveled to the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and addressed journalists in a chaotic event.