EARLY RESULTS IN IRAN SHOW TIGHT RACE BETWEEN REFORMIST, HARDLINER

TEHRAN, June 29 (Bernama-dpa) -- Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and hardliner Saeed Jalili are locked in a neck-and-neck race in Iran's presidential election, first results show.

With about 12 million votes counted, Pezeshkian, a former health minister, had received some 5 million votes. Jalili, a former negotiator in nuclear talks with Western powers, followed on his heels with 4.9 million votes, German news agency (dpa) quoted Iran's national broadcaster’s report citing the election authority.

Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was in third with some 1.6 million votes, while the fourth candidate, cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi, only received some 95,000 votes.

If none of the candidates secures an absolute majority, a run-off vote will take place on July 5.

Some 61 million voters in Iran were eligible to elect a successor to hardliner Ebrahim Raisi on Friday, after he died in a helicopter crash in May.

The polling stations were scheduled to close at 6 pm on Friday, but the electoral authorities extended voting in the evening until midnight.

The election comes amid a severe economic crisis, tensions with the West and frustrations among the public with the enforcement of state power and the government, especially among the younger population.

Many Iranians, especially young people, have however lost faith in major political change at home. 

The death of the young Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in autumn 2022 sparked nationwide protests, but the protests were quashed long ago with harsh punishments for demonstrators.

The president is only number two in Iran's power structure as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei functions as the head of state and has the final say in all strategic matters. He is also commander-in-chief of Iran's armed forces.

-- BERNAMA-dpa