TEHRAN, June 29 Saeed Jalili, candidate from the conservative wing, according to preliminary data, is ahead of his competitor from the reformists, Masoud Pezeshkian, in the early presidential elections in Iran, the election commission said.
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"A total of 8 million 379 thousand 341 votes have been counted. Said Jalili gains 3 million 505 thousand 191 votes, Masoud Pezeshkian – 3 million 389 thousand 191 votes,” the IRNA agency quotes the statement of the election commission.
Bagher Ghalibaf gains 1.116 thousand votes, Mostafa Pourmohammadi – 62.3 thousand votes .
Voting in the presidential elections took place in Iran on Friday, June 28, polling stations were open from 08.00 Moscow time to 00.00 (00.30 Moscow time).
The main struggle for the presidency was initially launched by six people: the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013), cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the representative of the Supreme Leader of Iran in the Supreme National Security Council Said Jalili, the current speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the mayor of Tehran Alireza Zakani , ex-Minister of Health and Medical Education of Iran during the second term of President Mohammad Khatami (2001-2005) and member of parliament Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as head of the Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi.
However, Ghazizadeh-Hashemi and Zakani withdrew their candidacies the day before the elections in favor of Ghalibaf and Jalili.
The President in Iran is the second most powerful politician in the country after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The president's responsibilities include implementing the provisions of the constitution and directing the executive branch. The overall direction of Iran's foreign policy will depend on the new president.
Snap elections in Iran were called after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and other officials on May 19 in a plane crash. According to the IRNA agency, the cause of the incident was a technical malfunction of the helicopter transporting them.
The duties of the President for 50 days before the new elections are performed by the First Vice President of Iran, Mohammad Mokhber.