Ammon News - Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran’s presidential election, state-run Press TV reported Saturday, citing the country’s election headquarters. He defeated his hardline rival in a pivotal vote amid heightened tensions both domestically and internationally.

Out of 30.5 million votes counted in Friday’s runoff, Pezeshkian won more than 16.3 million, edging out ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, who won more than 13.5 million, according to Press TV. Voter turnout was 49.8%, Press TV reported.

Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after securing the highest number of ballots in the first round, ahead of Jalili. The first round saw the lowest voter turnout for a presidential election since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979.

Pezeshkian will take the helm in a country that is facing increasing international isolation, internal discontent, a spiraling economy and the prospect of direct conflict with its archenemy Israel.

The snap election that brought him to power was held after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May in Iran’s remote northwest, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials. The lawmaker was the only reformist candidate vying for the top elected seat in the country after dozens of other candidates were barred from running.

Who is Masoud Pezeshkian?
A health minister under reformist president Mohammad Khatami, Pezeshkian is a trained heart surgeon and lawmaker.

After losing his wife and one of his children in a 1994 car crash, he devoted much of his time to politics. Pezeshkian ran for president in the 2013 and 2021 elections, but failed to make headway.

The 69-year-old hails from an ethnically mixed family – his father is Azeri and his mother is Kurdish.

CNN