Saeed Jalili

Iran's sole reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili have qualified for a runoff presidential election after leading in the first round, an official said on Saturday.

Pezeshkian got more than 10,400,000 votes and Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator, has more than 9,400,000, said Mohsen Eslami, spokesman of Iran's election authority.

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili are leading in Iran's presidential election, according to early results on Saturday from the Interior Ministry.

According to the latest count, Pezeshkian has won more than 8,300,000 votes and Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator, has above 7,100,000

Iranians go to the polls Friday to elect a new president after ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash last month, with a sole reformist among the candidates.

The election in sanctions-hit Iran comes at a time of high regional tensions between the Islamic republic and its arch-foes Israel and the United States as the Gaza war rages on.

Iranians will head to the polls the day after tomorrow, Friday, to elect a new president from a field of six candidates, including a relatively unknown reformist aiming to challenge conservative dominance.

Iran on Sunday announced the six candidates, mostly conservatives, approved for the June 28 election to replace president Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash.

The candidates announced by the interior ministry were selected from 80 registered hopefuls by the Guardian Council, which oversees elections in the Islamic republic.

Two Iranian political heavyweights, ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi and moderate conservative Ali Larijani, on May 15 launched what may be the main battle in next month's presidential election.