While the far-right appear to have made gains in French elections, a reformist candidate led the slate of candidates in Saturday’s Iranian presidential elections, which will now head to a runoff between the top two vote-getters, CNN reports.
Reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian will face off against the second-place finisher, ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, in the next round of the election, scheduled for July 5th. Iran has had relatively free elections for its civil government since the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s installed the religious head of the country as final authority in the country.
The liberal parties in Iran have gained support of voters in the weeks leading up to the election, which became necessary after a May 19th helicopter crash killed President Ebrahim Raisi. Trailing conservative and religious candidates bowed out of the race in the days before election day, hoping to consolidate voters behind Jalili and other leading conservatives.