The United States announced on Monday that it does not expect a “fundamental change” from Iran regardless of the winner in the second round of presidential elections, affirming it does not consider the first round free and fair.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, “We do not expect these elections, whatever their outcome, to result in a fundamental shift in Iran’s direction or lead the Iranian regime to show greater respect for human rights and dignity for its citizens.”
Support decline for both camps
The first round of Iranian presidential elections revealed declining support for both reformist and conservative camps, although some voters expressed a leaning towards change by supporting the sole reformist candidate, analysts noted.
After victories by Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili in the first round, the elections will be decided in the runoff on July 5th.
Meanwhile, reformist candidate Pezeshkian continued his campaign armed with a lead over his hardline conservative competitor Jalili by approximately one million votes in the first round of these elections aimed at selecting a successor to President Ebrahim Raisi, who perished in a helicopter crash last May.
Pezeshkian leads
Pezeshkian secured 42.5% of the votes, while Jalili, who previously negotiated on the nuclear file, received 38.6% of the votes.
This hardline conservative, close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, garnered support from other conservative candidates including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who ranked third with 13.8% of the votes.
At this time, the second round of elections largely depends on both camps’ ability to persuade abstainers to head to the polls.
Nothing appears certain as voter turnout in the first round reached 39.92%, the lowest since the establishment of the Islamic Republic 45 years ago.
