Reformer wins

Iran election: attack on ballot boxes – two men dead

Iranian presidential candidate and reformist Massoud Pezeshkian casts his vote at a polling station in Tehran during the Iranian presidential election on June 28, 2024.(Bild: APA/AFP/ATTA KENARE)

After a deadly attack rocked the Iranian presidential election, reformer Massoud Pezeshkian and hardliner Saeed Jalili have moved on to the second round. Pezeshkian won around 42.5 percent of the vote, ahead of Jalili with 38.7 percent, the spokesman for the electoral authority announced on state television on Saturday.

Armed men attacked a vehicle carrying ballot boxes in the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan - two security personnel are dead, Iranian state media report. The incident took place at around midnight (local time), as reported by the Tasnim news agency on Saturday night. According to the report, the attackers attacked a vehicle transporting votes to the city of Rask.

The town and the province have been the scene of several terrorist attacks in the recent past. Initially, no group claimed responsibility for the attack. The militant Islamist group Jaish al-Adl is active in the province. The Sunni group claims to be fighting for independence in south-eastern Iran.

Iranian women queue outside a polling station in Tehran.(Bild: APA/AFP/ATTA KENARE)

Run-off election on July 5
As none of the candidates has now achieved an absolute majority in the election, a run-off will take place on July 5. Parliamentary speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf was eliminated with 13.8 percent.

The Islamic cleric Mostafa Purmohammadi came fourth with less than one percent of the vote. According to insiders, voter turnout was around 40 percent, which was lower than expected by the clerical rulers.

Iranian president died in helicopter crash six weeks ago
The election of the new president took place in Iran on Friday. Six weeks ago, President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash. Now around 61 million Iranians were called upon to elect a successor.