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Hard-liner Saeed Jalili leads in early Iran presidential election results, state TV reports

Jun 28, 2024 | 7:51 PM

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Early results in Iran’s presidential election put hard-liner Saeed Jalili ahead Saturday, followed by reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.

The early results, reported by Iranian state television, did not initially put Jalili in a position to win Friday’s election outright, potentially setting the stage for a runoff election.

It also did not offer any turnout figures for the race yet — a crucial component of whether Iran’s electorate backs its Shiite theocracy.

Jalili had over 10 million votes, followed by Pezeshkian with 4.2 million. Another candidate, hard-line speaker of the parliament Mohmmad Bagher Qalibaf, had some 1.38 million votes. Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had more than 80,000 votes.