This could be an interesting and potentially important new development on the international scene. Al Jazeera and other international news sources are reporting that the relative reformer in Iran's presidential runoff election, Masoud Pezeshkian, has unexpectedly defeated his hardline opponent, Saeed Jalili -- and by a surprisingly large margin according to Iranian state media:
A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million after Friday’s election, the Associated Press reports.
Supporters of Pezeshkian entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn on Saturday to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, AP reports.
The really significant thing here is that turnout for the runoff was nearly 50% compared to less than 40% during the first round last week. More analysis from CNN:
The snap election that brought Pezeshkian to power was held after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May in Iran’s remote northwest, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials. The lawmaker was the only reformist candidate vying for the top elected seat in the country after dozens of other candidates were barred from running.
He has favored dialogue with Iran’s foes, particularly over its nuclear program, and sees that as a means to address the country’s domestic issues.
“The primary issue is the perspective: Do we want to solve our problems with the world or not? I believe we must get out of the deadlock to solve the country’s problems,” he said at a recent presidential debate.
This at least sounds promising, even if the history of previous reformist presidents in Iran has not been very encouraging due to real power residing with the Supreme Leader and his Guardian Council of aging theocrats.