Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian was elected as Iran’s new president on Saturday, beating hardliner Saeed Jalili by almost 3 million votes.

According to Iranian state media, Pezeshkian polled over 16 million votes in the Friday runoff round of the presidential elections as opposed to Jalili’s 13.5 million votes. 

Participation rate was 49.8% during the runoff round with over 30.5 million voters, a nine percent increase in participation in the first round of elections.

Pezeshkian took to social media platform X to thank his voters.

“Dear people of Iran, the elections are over and this is just the beginning of our cooperation. The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy and trust. I extend my hand to you and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path,” he said.

Pezeshkian has already served five terms in the Iranian parliament, been the country’s deputy parliamentary speaker, and served as the country’s health minister for four years under Mohammad Khatami’s term according to Iranian state media.

Iran held early elections on June 28 after a helicopter crash claimed the lives of former president Ebrahim Raisi and several Iranian officials.

These are the first presidential elections since widespread protests across the country in 2022, following the death of Kurdish woman Zhina "Mahsa" Amini in custody of the country’s morality police. The protests were met with violent police suppression.

The elections saw a record low turnout with only 40 percent of 60 million eligible voters casting their ballots.

No candidate was able to gain the required absolute majority of votes during the first round in which Pezeshkian led the polls with over 42.5% of the votes.