Pezeshkian defeated rival nominee Saeed Jalili, Iran's former senior negotiator in nuclear talks with international powers.
“Masoud Pezeshkian received 16,384,403 votes, and [former nuclear negotiator] Saeed Jalili - 13,538,179 votes. Based on this, Masoud Pezeshkian is declared [president]-elect of the 14th presidential election of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the SNN news agency quoted Eslami as saying.
He said 30,573,931 votes had been counted, adding that voter turnout was 49.8%.
Pezeshkian is a heart surgeon and presently serves in the country's parliament. From 2016 to 2020, he served as the parliament's first deputy speaker, and from 2001 to 2005, he was the country's health minister under former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. He ran for presidency in 2013, but withdrew and did not qualify for his second run in 2021.