masoud pezeshkian is ahead again —— saeed jalili.or, and masoud pezeshkian who, during the campaign, gradually took the campaign, gradually took the mantle of a reformist. so we're talking about half —— hard—line is realists and reformists fighting it out. is that how you expected it to go or do these results, as they stand at the moment, surprise you? stand at the moment, surprise ou? . , stand at the moment, surprise ou? ., , ., stand at the moment, surprise ou? ., ., stand at the moment, surprise ou? ., , ., ., ., stand at the moment, surprise ou? ., ., ., ., ,, you? there was a lot of talk about boycotting _ you? there was a lot of talk about boycotting the - you? there was a lot of talk. about boycotting the election, so a lot of people did not want to go and vote and tonight, we have unofficial results showing the turnout was the lowest since 1979, the islamic revolution. less than a0%, around a0%, 39%. so, that's pretty serious. it means a lot of people stayed away from the polling stations and those are the people who think t

. >> that means the top two contenders reform must lawmaker masoud pezeshkian and hardline, former nuclear negotiator saeed jalili will face each other in a run-off on july 5. now the election follows the death of iranian president ebrahim raisi in a helicopter crash in late may and comes amid heightened tensions in the middle east domestically, the country faces a struggling economy with inflation over 36%. now this is also the first presidential election since the 2022 death of mahsa amini in the custody of the country's notorious morality police following her arrest for wearing her hijab improperly that sparked the largest protests since the regime's founding. in 1979. lot more on election results in a live report from tehran coming up shortly you biden is grappling with calls for him to exit the presidential race after his controversial debate showing. but the u.s. present it says he isn't going anywhere. meanwhile, his republican rivals being criticized for his own false and misleading statements during the showdown, donald trump incorrectly claimed again that everyone wanted roe v. w

first of all, masoud pezeshkian has definitely had a very good showing, but one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that in the end more people voted conservative and milli electron then voted moderate in this election because of course, there were three conservative candidates on the other hand, we've noted that the turnout for this election was low and the big question is now heading into the second route is whether both cans will be able to vote, mobilize more voters to have a higher turnout. in the next round of elections to see who's going to become next president of this country? tree in front of you, touched on it. so i want to look at this a bit more closely. what it means for the the u.s. how much things could actually change in terms of relations with american and with israel as well with tensions heating up with a runs proxy, hezbollah yeah, and israel and iran recently, gavin bring on the brink of an all-out shooting war. i don't think there's gonna be any change in the policy towards his vowels far as the iranians are concerned, they once again today threatened

now, masoud pezeshkian is advocating for better ties with western mr. nations, better ties with the west as well. in fact, iran supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei, he said that he's quite skeptical of politicians whom he believes want that too much better relations with the united states, then you have a huge julie, who is gonna be the gentleman that he is going to be running against. he came in a second in the votes so far he said as that he wants a policy in the spirit of ebrahim raisi that president who was killed in that chopper crash, a little over a month ago. and that would mean a really tough line towards israel and a really tough line towards the united states. of course, we know that iran and israel in the past couple of weeks can very close to an all-out war that could have also had massive consequences for the us assets here in the greater middle eastern region. so these two are going to be facing off against one another and please open who could decide that election or that runoff election for themselves. it's certainly is the case that

iran's leader in the supreme national security council, said jalili, and reform advocate masoud pezeshkiane about the schedule from our special choir vitaly karmazin. chef musa calls for fresh kebab. there is chicken soaked in ayran with onions. there is lula - this is minced lamb. there is regular shish kebab. they are accustomed to diversity, and therefore when they showed up for the presidential elections. the islamic republic has dozens of voting marks in its special book. from the very beginning of the revolution i went to the polls. this is our duty, which we fulfill every time. now iranians just need a card, an identity card. it is scanned and a ballot is issued. long lines outside , quick procedure inside. iranian voting with an oriental touch in mosques and islamic centers. this site is an example of western sanctions against iran. they work, because sanctions are not only economic pressure, but also international isolation, and what kind of isolation is this if there are so many representatives of the world media here that you can’t count them, people of different ages are at the

. >> according to state media, moderate lawmaker masoud pezeshkian is leading hotline one nuclear negotiator saeed jalili, with nearly 20 million votes, counted pezeshkian leads by about 1 million votes. if no candidate gets 50% plus one of the vote, a runoff will be hills, will cnn's bridget plaque and joins us now from tehran. fred, good to see you. a voter turnouts as we know historically low in this election. do we feel that this boycott is a protest not necessarily shorts a protest or a boycott, but definitely the authorities won't be very happy with the turnout as far as we see it so far, if you look at it right now, the turnout stands at around 40%. >> that's not necessarily going to change at all and if we look at previous elections, even the one where ebrahim raisi was elected, where he didn't really have a moderate candidate running against them. the turned out there was 48% are the last parliamentary election turned out there was 43%. so certainly so it turns out is very low and the authorities will not be very happy with that at all. and the supreme leader, of course, has said th

however, it was a pretty good showing by the moderate camp and there may intended at masoud pezeshkian before forehand the moderate can't had actually said that they believed they needed very high voter turnout in order for him to even have a chance to make it to the runoff stage while the voter turnout was actually very low, it was only about 40%. and yet pessach gan managed to get by far the most votes he got around 10.4 million votes, almost 1 million more than the second place candidate said, jelly li. now pessach, ghana's somewhat wants better relations. he says with countries here in the region, but also better relations with the west as well. the supreme leader of this country, ayatollah ali khamenei, he had warn voters not to trust candidates that want better relations with the u.s. too much, you never main pezeshkian, however, there were some who believed that he meant pessach qian with that said jalili for his part, came in second in the first round of voting. he someone who says that he wants policies in line with what hey, ebrahim raisi, the president who of course crashed

really good showing for the moderates and masoud pezeshkian has said he wants better relations with the united states, better relations also with country please here in the region supreme leader of this country, he has been quite skeptical of that. now saying jalili is the candidate on the conservative side who got the most votes. there is still 1 million less than a mile for a candidate. he wants to continue what he calls the path of ebrahim raisi, which we mean are really tough line towards israel and a really tough line also towards the united states well, of course, the iranians have been threatening the u.s. not to get involved in any sort of issues between iran and israel. so we're going to have to wait and see the thing that it really comes down to is which base is going to be able to mobilize more that next election coming up, this coming friday, guys all right for it. >> thank you. the most decorated gymnast in history is getting closer to another. olympics, will take a look at simone biles is gravity defying moves ahead in sport class. a third of shark species are threatened w

so the reformist candidate masoud pezeshkian can he win? i mean, even though he had a slight lead, there were actually more votes in total, for conservative candidates he did have a better showing. >> i think than many people predicted going into that first round on friday. but i think the question now in the runoff is if he can mobilize more reform voters. this is an electorate. the reform must block that has been increasingly disenchanted with iranian politics. they stayed at home, obviously during the last presidential election in 2021 when they had no candidate on the ballot, they stayed home during the most recent legislative election and pezeshkian was able to mobilize some of them on friday, but i think it's an open question whether he can convince more of them. i think what he's going to say two people going into friday is sort of you have a choice between me and this arch-conservative ultra conservative figure in xiii jalili and he's going to use fear, i think as a way to try and mobilize people to come out to the polls. you spoken

hard liner, the ex nuclear negotiator saeed jalili against a reformist, former heart surgeon masoud pezeshkian. we asked our producer what the stakes are. what power does the president actually have given that the big national strategy is set by the supreme leader? >> in iran a president is almost equal to a vice president. it's not expected that an ex-president can go and make friends with the u.s. or be an ally with the u.s. >> reporter: but he can set the tone. for example, reformist hassan rouhani, steered iran into a nuclear deal with the west that delivered some relief from u.s.-led sanctions. conversely, under the conservative ebrahim raisi, a crack down on head coverings led to up riegzings in 2022. we heard time and time again calls for a better economy. >> so i decided to vote for maybe a better future in our country. >> reporter: pezeshkian has suggested he'll deliver change in opening up and seeking better relations with the west. jalili is in favor of doubling down on austerity at home with stronger ties to china and russia. now that this race has been distilled to two candidates,

voters will now choose between conservative candidate saeed jalili and reformist masoud pezeshkian onthe first round, which saw only about 40% of iranians vote. that is a record low since the 1979 islamic revolution. the election will decide who replaces ebrahim raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash last month, along with iran's foreign minister and six other people. i talked about the run—off election with negar mortazavi, an iranian—americanjournalist and senior fellow at the centre for international policy. what more can you tell us about these two candidates now in this runoff election and the pretty big differences between them? great to be back, carl. as you said, one of them, saeed jalili, a former nuclear negotiator and ultra hardliner and conservative belonging to really the core of that hardline faction of the regime, and by many believed to be the favourite or one of the top favourite candidates for the supreme leader in the hardline side of the regime. massoud pezeshkian, a former health minister in the reformist administration of the reformist president, is a reform

the contenders will be the reformist masoud pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, who won the largest number oftaking an early lead. let's talk to siavash ardalan from bbc persian. tell us what will happen on friday. we will have the contest between these two candidates which was the difference of votes is very marginal, difference of1 million votes. the heart surgeon reformist candidate, he won 30 full cash he won 43% of the votes and the hardliner won 38%. the kingmaker here is the centre—right candidate, the third candidate was assumed to become the next president of iran, he didn't win a lot of votes. given how radicalised the conservative face —— base in iran has become. so he endorsed the far right candidate, saidjalili. if he he endorsed the far right candidate, said jalili. if he and his supporters decide to vote for him than the next president of iran will be hardliner. but the real kingmakers are those iranians who have chosen to stay away as a sign of defiance against the regime. the turnout was the lowest ever since the 1979 revolution. 60% decided to stay away. the 1979 revolution.

voters will now choose between conservative candidate saeed jalili and reformist masoud pezeshkian onof iranians vote. that is a record low since the 1979 islamic revolution. the election will decide who replaces ebrahim raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash last month. he died along with the foreign minister and six other people. thank you forjoining us. tell us about the low turnout, what factors contributed? electorate has been quite _ factors contributed? electorate has been quite disenchanted i has been quite disenchanted with the political establishment. historically, iran has had good voter turnout in elections but in 2021, the electorate discovered that their vote did not really matter and the establishment, the conservative political establishment doesn't really want to invite high voter turnout. so, as a result, at this election, as we saw, an overwhelming majority of arabians were on the fence and didn't decide until the last minute if they should vote —— iranians. minute if they should vote -- iranians— iranians. how does the perception _ iranians. how does the perce

and be such a compromising figure for many, so now i will tell you, no, you will tell me about masoud pezeshkian said. jalili, these are people who made it to the second round of elections in irani says about one of these people that he is like a reformer, but they say that he is a hard conservative. masoud is like a reformer, and said is like, so, such a conservative. what do you say, how important is it for the fate of iran, how important is it, for example, for the fate of ukraine, how much they will... the russian invasion of ukraine, help weapons and so on and so forth. please, mr. mykhailo, marsudan is the same reformer as dmitry medvedev was at that time under putin. this is a very clever technology, which was personally carried out by samela kmni, supreme leader the turnout at the elections is very low, less than 50%. every year it falls because people see that the elections are going on and nothing is changing. accordingly, it was necessary to push. some candidate, who is allegedly not directly connected to the government, and offers such democratic slogans, about the rights of women, t

the reformist masoud pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, won the largest number of votes.hardline rivals, saeed jalili, came second, after taking an early lead. the election was called after the death of ultra—conservative president ebrahim raisi in a helicopter crash last month. the four candidates were all vetted by an influential committee of clerics before they could stand. turnout was about a0%, according to an interior ministry count, the lowest on record since the 1979 revolution, raising questions about the legitimacy of iran's system of government. siavash ardalan from the bbc persian service told me more about the election. this is the lowest turnout we've seen since the 1979 revolution, 43%. i mean, that's pretty low, not even counting those spoiled ballots which might take the real turnout down to the 30s. this is just unprecedented, especially given the fact that the supreme leader had come out a few days before the election saying that, "we want people to turn out because if they turn out, "then that will prove that the people are still loyal "to the system a

the reformist masoud pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, won the highest number of votes. after taking an early lead. the election was called after the death of ultra—conservative president ebrahim raisi in a helicopter crash last month. the four candidates were all vetted by an influential committee of clerics before they could stand. turnout was about a0%, according to an interior ministry count, the lowest on record since the 1979 revolution, raising questions about the legitimacy of iran's system of government. let's talk to siavash ardalan from bbc persian. let's talk about the low turnout first and people really trying to make their point perhaps on that side of things?— make their point perhaps on that side of thins? , ., ., , , side of things? they have absolutely made their point _ side of things? they have absolutely made their point in _ side of things? they have absolutely made their point in a _ side of things? they have absolutely made their point in a spectacular- made their point in a spectacular way. this is the lowest turnout we have seen it since the 197

the reformist masoud pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, won the largest number of votes.his hardline rivals, saeed jalili, came second, after taking an early lead. the election was called after the death of ultra—conservative president ebrahim raisi in a helicopter crash last month. the four candidates were picked by an influential committee of clerics — chosen from a larger pool of around 80 who'd applied to run. the reform uk leader, nigel farage, has again insisted that video showing one of his party's campaigners using racist language to describe the prime minister, was in fact a set—up. the comments were recorded by an undercover reporter for channel 4. the broadcaster says it stands by its journalism and dismissed mr farage's suggestion that someone may have been paid to make the comments. here's our political correspondent, damian grammaticas. i've always been a tory voter... still causing reverberations, the undercover filming from channel 4 of reform uk canvassers. one suggested gay people were paedophiles. another, this man, andrew parker, suggested people cross

according to the latest polls , former health minister masoud pezeshkian is in the lead.dered a supporter of reform. his main competitor from among the conservatives is the speaker of parliament , mahammad bagher ghalib. he follows the course of the late president ibrahim raisi. the head of state's helicopter crashed in the north of the country on may 19. the head of the ministry of defense and a number of government officials flew with him. passengers and crew died. the volume of trade turnover between russia and belarus in the first 4 months of this year amounted to 2.9 trillion rubles. this was announced today at the forum of regions, which is taking place in vitevsk. more than eighty russian entities are now involved in trade and economic cooperation with belarus. this year, participation in the forum, including thematic sessions, sections takes about 700 representatives of our country. according to him, last year trade turnover increased by more than 5% to a record level of $46.5 billion. and in terms of accumulated investments in the belarusian economy, russia firml

early vote counting for iran's presidency is becoming a two candidate race between reformists masoud pezeshkianmer nuclear negotiator saeed jalili. 12 million votes have been counted, and neither candidate appears to be in position to win outright. iran's last president was killed in a helicopter crash last month . next at ten, no end in sight for two astronauts who can't return home thanks to some technical difficulties with the boeing spacecraft. why nasa is insisting they are not stranded in space. here is a live look outside tonight. on this saturday, with pride weekend in full swing, we have our meteorologist roberto gonzalez back with your complete bay area forecast ♪ (ominous music) ♪ yes, ahh!! mom: what is going on with you? get out! andy! get out of my room! get out! mom: andy. fight! fight! i didn't say anything. yes you did. ♪ (ominous music) ♪ ♪ (ominous music) ♪ to the international space station that was expected to last just a few days could now take more than a month as fox's madison, scarpino, shows us issues with boeing's starliner capsule are preventing their return. this is

you candidates either fredricka well, first of all, masoud pezeshkian, i think it was a really good showing for him. one of the things that the moderates had said before the election even started, they said that they believed that they needed a strong voter turnout for him to actually even have a chance to get to the next round. well, the voter turnout was actually really low, was only about 40% those who were eligible to vote. and yet he got by far the most votes, more than ten 10.4 million votes, and around 1 million votes more than a man who is in second place said jelly lee, who is a conservative. now my suit has such gan is someone who wants better relations with countries here in the region it also wants better relations with the west. and actually the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei, he warn voters beforehand not to trust politicians who want better relations with the u.s. too much didn't name pezeshkian by name, but there are people who believe that he lent as this gang. the conservative challenger, jalili, he is someone who said that he wants to continue as he put it down the

according to the results of the first round, reformist masoud pezeshkian is in the lead, he receivedcandidate from the conservative wing, said dzhuli, is ahead by about a million voters. well, now, perhaps, let's remember what events preceded this. tehran city center street. other iranian cities this week were ablaze with political posters and advertising bills with images of candidates for the post of president of the country. in total, the election headquarters of the republic registered the applications of 80 people who wanted to occupy this high political post. but the iranian elections have their own specifics and their own flavor. only those who were recommended by the council of experts, which consists of 88 people and were ultimately admitted by the council, could get on the ballot. guardian of the iranian constitution, and this body already consists of 12 members. of course, it could not have happened without the personal recommendation of the supreme leader of the islamic republic of ayataly ali khaminiya, who has the final say in the country. in total, only six of the most

your— masoud pezeshkian. who is expected to win it? your assessment _ masoud pezeshkian.ent, the snap election came about as you know because of a helicopter crash last month that killed the former president, the economy is in a terrible state and it is a time of huge regional turmoil, the war in gaza, around backing hout, the houthis in lebanon...— gaza, around backing hout, the houthis in lebanon... thank you, caroline hawley. _ this is bbc news. the headlines... joe biden faces calls to reconsider running from the white house after his sun wen performance in the debate with donald trump. in the general election campaign — a reform uk worker is caught on camera making racist remarks about rishi sunak. what annoys me is bleep, what good is he? nigel farage distances himself from the comments and claims it was a setup, the prime minister needs the condemnation. it makes me angry, i don't repeat those words lightly, i do so deliberately because it's too important not to call out clearly for what it is. i think he has some questions to answer. the man accused of plotting to

what you have, for instance tonight is you have a rally by the main model moderate candidate masoud pezeshkian, which also have a big rally by the gentleman that you see behind me or muhammad bottom, kelly buffoonish, leading some to say that maybe he will turn out to be the main candidate on the conservative side. very difficult to see what we do, see the lemma we have seen especially yesterday, where there were big religious celebrations here in the city is that a lot of people are saying that they will go out and vote this time. of course in the last election where ebrahim raisi was elected, the turnout was fairly low, so the iranians are looking to change things that and again, who are absolutely right as well, max, if the supreme leader has come out very forcefully in an important nationally televised speech, and urge people to head to the votes saying that every time the turnout is strong, that it's strengthens the political system here in the islamic republic every time to turn out is low. he believes that it aids the enemies of the islam i make republic max for applied get into iran. >

now there is still one moderate who is in the race is them, as masoud pezeshkian. and he's actually called for better relations, especially with country trees here in the middle eastern region, it's unclear how much of a chance he actually has though, in the end low, one of the things that we've also picked up is that a lot of people here are telling us that they will also be closely watched the debate on cnn between president biden and donald trump. of course, whoever becomes next us president, also a big issue here in iran as well okay? >> the room where history happens tonight, you see that on your screen, the first-ever presidential debate between a president and former president, the earliest presidential debate americans have ever seen and new rules that each candidate agreed to. we're giving you a rare behind the scenes look, debate day. both candidates to arrive here in atlanta in the next few hours. >> this, as we're learning last-minute preparations from both sides and yes yes. donald trump is preparing despite the spin from the campaign, cnn has ready to

according to the results of the first round, reformist masoud pezeshkian is in the lead, he receivedsaid dzhulili, is ahead by about a million voters. well, now, perhaps, let's remember what events preceded this. the center of tehran is the street of others. cities this week have been ablaze with political posters and billboards featuring candidates for the country's presidency. total electoral headquarters of the republic registered applications from 80 people who wanted to occupy this high political post. but the iranian elections have their own specifics and their own flavor. only those who were recommended by the council of experts, which consists of 88 people, were ultimately admitted by the council of guardians could get on the ballot. constitution of iran, and this body already consists of twelve members. of course, this could not have happened without the personal recommendation of the supreme leader of the islamic republic, ayatallah ali khamenya, who has the final say in the country. in total, only six of the most worthy applicants were able to pass such a strict selection,