Reformist candidate Pezeshkian leading in Iran's presidential elections
Masoud Pezeshkian has 42.3% of vote as counting continues, Saeed Jalili in 2nd place with 39.5%
TEHRAN, Iran
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian is leading in Iran's snap election held after late President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash last month.
Pezeshkian is at 42.3%, according to a spokesman from the country's election headquarters, who said candidate Saeed Jalili is following in the four-candidate race with 39.5% with over 14 million votes counted since ballot boxes were opened at midnight.
The other two candidates are Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Mostafa Pourmohammadi.
For a candidate to be elected in the first round, they need to receive more than 50% of the votes.
If no candidate exceeds this threshold in the first round, a runoff election will be held on July 5.
*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul
