Iran holds second round of presidential election in early July, speaks out about 'interference' of US officials

Iran's Interior Ministry announced on June 29 that the country will hold a second round of presidential elections on July 5 after both leading candidates failed to win more than 50% of the votes.

Posters introducing presidential candidates on the streets of Iran. (Source: EPA)

According to preliminary results announced by Iran's Interior Ministry after counting more than 24 million votes in the June 28 election, moderate presidential candidate Massoud Pezeshkian led with more than 10 million votes, while hardline diplomat Saeed Jalili won more than 9.4 million votes.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on June 28 condemned the recent "interference" remarks of a US official regarding the 14th Iranian presidential election.

Mr. Kanaani made the comments on social media platform X, responding to a series of posts on the same platform by US Deputy Special Envoy for Iran Mr. Abram Paley on June 26.

Mr Paley said the Iranian elections were “neither free nor fair” and were not conducive to any “fundamental change in the direction of the country”, and made a number of accusations against the Iranian government. In response, Mr Kanaani said Mr Paley’s remarks were “blatant and unjustified interference”.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/iran-bau-cu-tong-thong-vong-2-vao-dau-thang-7-len-tieng-ve-su-can-thiep-cua-quan-chuc-my-276852.html