Iran's Khamenei Says Turnout in Presidential Election was 'Lower than Expected'

08/07/2024

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on July 3 that the turnout in the first round of the country's presidential election was "lower than expected", semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. 

Turnout was about 40%, Iran's interior ministry said - the lowest on record since the 1979 revolution. 

"We hope that people's turnout for the second round will be important and a source of pride for the Islamic Republic," Khamenei said, calling upon Iranians to cast their ballot this coming Friday. 

The election is to elect a successor to President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. 

Khamenei added that the lower-than-expected turnout was due to "several factors" and that claims that non-voters were against the Islamic Republic were "strongly mistaken." 

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