DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Early results in Iran’s presidential election put hard-liner Saeed Jalili ahead Saturday, followed by reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.
The early results, reported by Iranian state television, did not initially put Jalili in a position to win Friday’s election outright, potentially setting the stage for a runoff election.
It also did not offer any turnout figures for the race yet — a crucial component of whether Iran’s electorate backs its Shiite theocracy.
![In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, hard-line former Iranian senior nuclear negotiator and candidate for the presidential election Saeed Jalili casts his ballot in a polling station, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a snap election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. (Alireza Sotakabr, ISNA via AP)](https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/20240628220644-667f75ab72ed6197ebc9ab12jpeg.jpg?w=1000)
With over 10 million votes counted, Jaili had 4.26 million vote followed by Pezeshkian with 4.24 million. Another candidate, hard-line speaker of the parliament Mohmmad Bagher Qalibaf, had some 1.38 million votes. Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had more than 80,000 votes.
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This story has been corrected to say 10 million was the overall number of votes initially counted.
![A woman prepares to casts her ballot during the presidential election at a polling station inside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)](https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/20240628220644-667f75b072ed6197ebc9ab15jpeg.jpg?w=1000)