Iran: Constitutional Council Confirms Runoff Election Results

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s Constitutional Council has confirmed the result of the July 5 presidential runoff election, which led to the victory of Masoud Pezeshkian.

“The validity of the second round of the 14th presidential election has been approved by the Constitutional Council,” spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif said on Sunday.

He further added that the Interior Ministry, the body in charge of holding the elections, has been officially informed of the issue, noting that “neither candidate had lodged any complaints or reported any violations to the Constitutional Council, a 12-member election supervisory body.”

“The council also did not receive any significant reports from the public that would influence the result of the election,” he explained.

The seasoned parliamentarian-cum-heart surgeon Pezeshkian emerged victorious in the second round of the presidential vote on July 5.

He garnered more than 16 million votes against ex-nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who secured upwards of 13 million out of over 30 million votes cast, with the voter turnout standing at almost 50 percent.

Tahan Nazif further said that following the approval of the Constitutional Council of the election result, the president-elect's credentials will now be sent to the office of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei for the endorsement of Pezeshkian.

“Imam Khamenei will then endorse the mandate of the winner of the election and the Leader's office will later announce the date of the inauguration ceremony,” he added.

Based on Iran's Constitution, after having his mandate endorsed by Ayatollah Khamenei, Pezeshkian will take the oath of office to be officially inaugurated as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran for four years, the spokesman explained.