Early presidential elections in Iran were held on June 28, 2024 following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.  As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a run-off vote will be held between Conservative Saeed Jalili and Masoud Pezeshkian, THE Reformist contender, on July 5.

Iran Daily says the Iranian nation took to the polls on June 28 to cast their ballots in a snap presidential election.  Iran’s presidential candidates reportedly began their campaigning on Sunday for the Friday run-off elections after the Guardian Council confirmed the results of the June 28 election.   The Guardian Council’s spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif reportedly said the validity of the first round of the election has been approved by the council, adding that no complaints were submitted to the council by any of the candidates. 

The BBC says with a 39.93% turnout, the first round of the election saw the lowest participation for a presidential election in the Islamic Republic's history, which exceeded the 48.48% recorded in 2021.

Mr. Masoud Pezeshkian and Mr. Saeed Jalili will face off in the July 5 run-off election.

Candidates need to win 50% of the vote but the pair both hovered around the 40% mark - with Mr. Pezeshkian finishing narrowly ahead.

Iran's Interior Ministry confirmed the second round is set for 5 July.

Early results from the Interior Ministry reportedly show that former nuclear negotiator Mr. Jalili was trailing Mr. Pezeshkian - a former heart surgeon and health minister - by about a million votes. 

The BBC notes that Mr. Pezeshkian has promised a different approach, saying the actions of the morality police, who enforce strict dress codes on women, are "immoral".

Although he is seen as a reformist, Mr. Pezeshkian is deeply loyal to Iran's supreme leader, according to the BBC.

Some commentators have reportedly suggested that should he be elected, Iran should not expect more than a difference in tone.

According to IRNA's foreign policy group, Alireza Bikdeli, Deputy for Consular Parliamentary and Iranians Affairs of the Foreign Ministry while appreciating the presence of Iranian expatriates as well as the representatives of the Islamic Republic for the successful holding of the runoff presidential vote, emphasized the need to protect voters' rights, maintain the security of polling stations.

The director-general of Consular Affairs of Iran's Foreign Ministry, Alireza Mahmoudi, who is in charge of holding elections abroad, presented a report in this meeting.

Mahmoudi reportedly noted that the organizers of elections in overseas offices of the Islamic Republic of Iran pay attention and care to the safety of this important matter.