Tehran, Iran - July 5, 2024

Storyline:
Iranian voters expressed their expectations about the country's future domestic and foreign policies, as the second round of Iran's presidential election just ended, with reformist candidate, former Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian winning the race.

The runoff began in early Friday with a tight competition between Pezeshkian and principlist Saeed Jalili, the former chief negotiator in the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers.

Pezeshkian secured 16,384,402 of the total 30,573,931 votes in the runoff, Iran's Election Headquarters Spokesperson Mohsen Eslami announced on Saturday, adding the turnout in the second round stands at 49.8 percent.

Before the election results were announced, voters at a polling station in Tehran expressed their expectations for the new president to improve people's livelihood, promote economic development and reduce the negative impact of sanctions.

Others said Iran should continue to adhere to multilateralism and actively interact with more countries to achieve mutual benefit and common development.

Many voters said they want the new president and government to focus on developing the country's economy and ease the negative impact of U.S. sanctions.

Other voters expressed the hope that Iran will take a more active part in international affairs in the future and conduct cooperation with more friendly countries in various fields.

Iran's 14th presidential election, which had initially been set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran on May 19.

Shotlist:
Tehran, Iran - July 5, 2024:
1. Voters at polling station;
2. Various of voters lining up to have information registration;
3. Paper bearing presidential candidates' information;
4. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Alireza, voter:
"The removal of sanctions should be one of the priorities. Everyone wants the sanctions to be lifted, but we should not rush into negotiations just because of this. Otherwise, Iran will lose a lot. The most important goal of negotiations is to make people's lives better, and it would be great if the new government could achieve this.";
5. Various of voters' information being checked, registered;
6. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Amir Hussein, voter:
"Iran and all other countries should stick to multilateralism because it is difficult for a single country to make progress alone and every country should build relations with others. I think countries should help each other because there are things that can only be done by working together, such as international trade and the construction of economic corridors.";
7. Various of personnel registering voters' information;
8. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Mehdi, voter:
"I hope our country will be accepted by the rest of the international community, have its voice [in international affairs], and can interact positively and effectively with all other countries.";
9. Various of voters casting ballots.

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