Masoud Pezeshkian to become Iran President

TEHRAN: Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian (69) has been elected as the new president of Iran. He will swear in on August 5.

Out of 30.5 million votes counted in Friday's runoff, Pezeshkian received over 16.3 million votes while his ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili got more than 13.5 million votes, a report said. According to election headquarters under the auspices of the interior ministry, the voter turnout was 49.8 per cent in Iran's presidential elections.

Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after he received the highest number of votes in the first round, ahead of Jalili. The first round witnessed lowest turnout for a presidential election since Iran was established in 1979.

Snap elections were held in Iran after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a chopper crash along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials in Iran's remote northwest in May.