Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian has been elected as Iran’s new president, beating his hardline conservative rival Saeed Jalili.
The vote was declared in Pezeshkian’s favour after he secured 53.3% of the more than 30 million votes counted. Jalili polled at 44.3%.
The run-off came after no candidate secured a majority in the first round of the election on 28 June, which saw a historically low voter turnout of 40%.
The election was called after Iran’s previous president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in May, in which seven others also died.
Even before the final results were declared by Iran’s interior ministry, Pezeshkian’s supporters had taken to the streets in Tehran and a number of other cities to celebrate.
Videos posted on social media showed mostly young people dancing and waving the signature green flag of his campaign, while passing cars sounded their horns.
Pezeshkian, a 71-year-old heart surgeon and member of the Iranian parliament, is critical of Iran’s notorious morality police and caused a stir after promising “unity and cohesion”, as well as an end to Iran’s “isolation” from the world.
He has also called for “constructive negotiations” with Western powers over a renewal of the faltering 2015 nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for an easing of Western sanctions.
