Preliminary final results showed that reformist lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian and hard-liner Saeed Jalili will head to a second-round, runoff vote in Iran’s presidential election.
Mohsen Eslami, a spokesman for Iran’s election commission, said in comments on state TV on June 29 that the two candidates will face off on July 5, with Pezeshkian garnering 42.5 percent of ballots cast, and Jalili 38.6 percent.
Voter turnout, meanwhile, reached only 40 percent, he said, a record low.
The results knocked out of the race two other candidates: Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a conservative speaker of parliament, and Mostafa Purmohammadi, a former justice and interior minister.
The early election was called after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in May in a helicopter crash along with several other top officials.
All four candidates were vetted and approved by the Guardians Council, an unelected constitutional watchdog whose members are directly and indirectly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The outcome of the election is unlikely to result in major policy shifts, but it could affect the succession to 85-year-old Khamenei, who has been the country’s supreme leader since 1989.
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Why Iran's Presidential Election Matters More Than Past Votes
Last-ditch efforts to rally behind a consensus conservative candidate failed on the eve of the election, with neither Qalibaf nor Jalili willing to drop out in favor of the other.
Conservatives have expressed concern that the lack of unity could split the vote to the benefit of reformist Pezeshkian, who has been a member of parliament since 2008. He served as deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.
He has questioned Iran’s methods of enforcing the hijab, the Islamic head scarf for women, and spoken in favor of negotiating with the West. But he has said he will follow Khamenei’s policies if elected.
Jalili, who has never held elected office, serves as Khamenei’s personal representative on the Supreme National Security Council. During his 2007-13 term as the council’s secretary, he led the a delegation in failed talks with the West on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s political establishment has long maintained it derives its legitimacy from strong voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and popular protests have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.
WATCH: Speaking with RFE/RL's Radio Farda from inside Iran, some listeners said they would boycott the vote, while others said they hoped their participation would bring about reforms.
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'Not Free At All': Iranians Voice Need For Change Amid Snap Presidential Election
The estimated 40 percent turnout in the June 28 vote signaled apathy among many Iranians tired of the country’s persistent economic woes and international isolation.
Dissidents at home and abroad called for a boycott, arguing that past voting has failed to deliver change.
Iran’s supreme leader has the final say on all state matters and the president does not have much sway on many key issues.
Raisi died along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and several other officials when their helicopter crashed on May 19.
Many Iranians refer to him as the Butcher of Tehran for his alleged role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 when he was Tehran's deputy prosecutor.