TEHRAN – With vote counting over in Iran, pro-reform presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian comes first but he is immediately followed by principlist candidate Saeed Jalili.

The votes show that snap presidential election will go to a second round which will be held next Friday. 

Out of over 24 million votes counted so far, Pezeshkian has garnered about 10.400 million votes and Jalili about 9.4 million, the Interior Ministry announced on Saturday morning.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the principlist parliament speaker, comes third with about 3.4 million votes, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a centrist and former interior minister, about 200,000 votes.

To the surprise of people in Iran, Saeed Jalili has demonstrated a strong showing in the election, winning about three times more than his fellow principlist competitor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.