Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian reaches runoff in Iranian presidential election
A reformist candidate critical of many of Iran’s government policies, including the mandatory veil law, will compete with a hardline conservative in a runoff election for the country’s presidency next week, Iran’s Interior Ministry announced Saturday. The runoff follows a special vote called after the death of the country’s previous leader, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash last month. A second round of voting will take place on July 5, pitting reformist Masoud Pezeshkian against Saeed Jalili, an ultra-conservative former nuclear negotiator. The runoff was partly the result of low voter turnout and a field of three main candidates. , two of whom competed for the Conservative vote. Iranian law requires a winner to receive more than 50% of all votes cast.A majority of Iranians, 60 perc...