Pezeshkian wins runoff vote to become Iran’s 9th president

TEHRAN: Masoud Pezeshkian won the runoff presidential elections held on Friday to become Iran's 9th president, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Saturday. Out of a total of 30,530,157 votes counted, Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, won 16,384,403 votes while Saeed Jalili stood behind his rival with 13,538,179 ballots. Pezeshkian, 69, had served as a lawmaker in the Iranian Parliament for five 4-year terms. He was also the vice speaker of Iran's 10th Parliament. The president-elect served as Iran's minister of health for four years during the administration of then-President Mohammad Khatami. The early election was held on June 28 across Iran with the participation of four candidates. Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili won more votes than other hopefuls; meanwhile, the runoff election was planned for a week later as none of the candidates managed to get the majority of votes to become the president of Iran. Source: Emirates News Agency