Both hard-line candidate Saeed Jalili and his perceived reformist rival Massoud Fezeshkian failed to secure a majority in the presidential election, forcing a runoff election in Iran.
A candidate needs to win 50% of the vote, but both have been hovering around the 40% mark for hours, outpacing each other.
Iran’s Interior Ministry said the second round was scheduled for July 5.
Unidentified gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying election boxes in Sistan-Baluchestan province, killing two security forces members, according to state media reports.
Initial results from the Interior Ministry show Mr. Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator, trailing Mr. Pezeshkian, a former cardiologist and health minister, by about a million votes.
Mr Fezeshkian promised a different approach, calling the moral police’s actions of enforcing strict dress codes on women “immoral”.
Although he is considered a reformist, Mr. Fezeshkian is deeply loyal to Iran’s supreme leader.
Some commentators have suggested that if he is elected, Iran should expect little more than a change of tone.
The vote is to replace former President Ibrahim Raisi, who died on May 19 when his helicopter crashed into a mountain. He was killed along with seven others.
Iran has 61.5 million eligible voters, but only about 40 percent voted, the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Ayatollah, the country’s highest authority, called for “maximum” voter turnout.
Iran has been rocked by a wave of mass protests following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old detained by morality police on suspicion of violating Iran’s strict dress code.
Human rights groups say the crackdown has left hundreds of people dead and thousands detained.
