Iran's Presidential Election Crisis

Following the sudden death of president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19, Iran set June 28 for a snap election. The snap elections came within the 50-day constitutionally mandated period to select a new president after Raisi and seven others, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian’s tragic death in an helicopter last month.

Results from Friday's vote show hard-liner Saeed Jalili and reformist Masoud Pezeshkian tie in Iran's presidential polls. The final numbers from election showed that Pezeshkian received more than 10.4 million votes from a total of more than 24.5 million ballots counted, trailed by Saeed Jalili with 9.4 million votes but under Iranian electoral law, a runoff between the two top candidates is held on the first Friday after the result is announced if neither wins at least 50% vote from all ballots casted as only 40% of more than 61 million eligible Iranians voted.

None of the four candidates secured more than 50% of the vote in Friday’s election, prompting a second round on July 5. The vote also takes place just two months after Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time as the Gaza conflict continues to widened amidst the country's crisis over the years as it was previously shaken by a huge wave of worldwide protests in 2022 following the death of 22 year old Mahsa Amini, who was detained and abused by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code.