Iran to hold presidential runoff election on 5 July, says interior ministry

A moderate lawmaker will face the protege of Iran's supreme leader in a runoff presidential election on 5 July, after the interior ministry said on Saturday that no candidate secured an absolute majority in the first vote. The 28 June vote came down to a tight race between a low-profile lawmaker, Masoud Pezeshkian, who is the sole moderate among the four candidates, and the former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps member Saeed Jalili. Turnout for the initial election may end up as low as 40%, a record low since the 1979 revolution. The scale of the boycott is a rebuff for the regime, which had repeatedly urged Iranians to show their commitment to the regime by voting Iran heading for runoff election after neither lead candidate scores majority