ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s presidential poll has entered a run-off after none of the candidates were able to get an outright victory during Friday’s snap election, the country’s electoral body announced on Saturday. Iran’s electoral body said on Saturday that none of the four candidates running to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month, were able to collect enough votes to win the poll. Over 60 million Iranians were eligible to cast their ballots to elect a new president. Masoud Pezeshkian, the lone reformist candidate, won 10.41 million votes while his ultraconservative contender, Saeed Jalili garnered 9.47 million out of 24.5 million votes counted, the electoral body said, reported the state-owned IRNA news agency. The results show that the turnout was about 40 percent - lowest ever recorded since the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, won 3.38 million votes and Mostafa Pourmohammadi 206 thousand. Ghalibaf called on his supporters to vote for Jalili in the run-off following his defeat. The election went to a run-off after none of the candidates were able to gain 50 percent plus. Any candidate who wins the highest number of votes in the second round on Friday will be declared the winner of the race. The vote is being held to replace Raisi, who died last month in a helicopter crash alongside several companions including late Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Vice President Mohammed Mokhber is serving as acting president until a candidate is elected.
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