Islam Times - US Reacts to Iran's Presidential Election Runoff Results

Islam Times - The US Department of State has declared hat the results of the Iranian presidential election runoff will have no effect on US policy towards Iran.

Responding to questions from The Associated Press, the State Department called the Iranian election “not free or fair”, further claiming that “a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all.”

“We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Iran’s direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens,” the State Department added. “As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader,” the AP further cited the US State Department as saying.

However, it said it would pursue diplomacy “when it advances American interests.”

Despite the US hostile position, many messages of congratulations from a large number of heads of states and other high-ranking politicians of various nations around the world poured in for Iran's president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian shortly after the snap presidential elections runoff results were announced.

The official presidential election runoff results released by the Iranian Ministry of Interior showed that Pezeshkian received more than 16 million votes (about 53.6 percent) against former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili with more than 13 million (about 44.3 percent) out of over 30 million votes cast, with the voter turnout standing at about 50 percent.