Interior Ministry figures show 1,056,159 votes – roughly the difference between Pezeshkian and Jalili – were deemed invalid after Friday’s polls.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi officially announced the end of the first round of voting, saying in a short statement that “election was held in complete safety and health, and with serious competitiveness and valuable participation”.

Iranian officials have traditionally hailed “epic” public participation in elections regardless of turnout, but the new record low turnout – at 40 percent – was recorded on Friday.