Pezeshkian leads in Iran’s presidential run-off

Early results from Iran’s presidential runoff election show reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian narrowly ahead of hard-liner Saeed Jalili, state television reported early Saturday.

Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator.

But a possible Pezeshkian win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Iran’s advancing nuclear program and a looming U.S. election that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.

Mohsen Eslami, an election spokesperson, said Pezeshkian had 12.7 million votes, leading Jalili’s 10.4 million. He gave no total turnout figure as counting went on.

The first round of voting June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country’s Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran’s economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.

Government officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted a higher participation rate as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers across the country.

More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6 p.m. but was extended until midnight to boost participation.

The late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.

(With inputs from agencies)