Reformist candidate wins Iran's presidential election

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Masoud Pezeshkian, the lone reformist candidate, won by a hair Iran's run-off presidential election on Friday. The vote followed the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, reported state media. 

IRNA news agency reported early Saturday that Pezeshkian garnered over 53 percent of the previous day's presidential run-off election beating his ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili.

In last week’s first round, Pezeshkian won 10.41 million votes, while Jalili garnered 9.47 million out of 24.5 million votes.

The turnout rose from 40 percent to nearly 50 in the second round. 

On Wednesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for a higher turnout in the run-off election.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, who was also running for the position, won 3.38 million votes in the first round.

Ghalibaf called on his supporters to vote for Jalili in the run-off following his defeat. 

The vote was originally scheduled for 2025, but it was brought forward after former president Raisi died in May in a helicopter crash alongside several companions including late Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.