A second round of voting, which will pit the reformist, Masoud Pezeshkian, against Saeed Jalili, an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator, will take place on July 5.
The runoff was in part the result of low voter turnout and a crowded field of four candidates, three of whom competed for the conservative vote.
Iranian law requires a winner to receive more than 50 percent of all votes cast.
Iran’s economy is cratering under punishing Western sanctions, its citizens’ freedoms are increasingly curtailed and its foreign policy is largely shaped by hard-line leaders.
In speeches, televised debates and round-table discussions, the candidates criticized government policies and ridiculed rosy official assessments of Iran’s economic prospects as harmful delusions.
Persons:
Masoud Pezeshkian, Saeed Jalili, —