In remarks on Wednesday, July 3, Ayatollah Khamenei said the presidential runoff election is “very important”.
“Those who are fond of Islam and the Islamic Republic and the country’s progress should express this issue through their participation in the elections,” the Leader said.
“Supposing that the people who did not vote in the first round (of the presidential election) are opposed to the establishment is a totally wrong interpretation,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.
Iran’s presidential election is destined for a runoff, after the results on June 28 showed no candidate had garnered over 50% of the votes.
Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, the two candidates with the highest number of votes, will face off in a showdown on July 5.
A total of 24,535,185 votes were cast in the polls, translating into a turnout of 39.92%, as over 61,452,000 people were eligible to vote.
The polls were held at around 59,000 polling stations across the country.
The election took place a year ahead of schedule, as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi passed away in May.
A helicopter carrying President Raisi and his entourage crashed in northwestern mountainous forests on May 19, killing the president, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six others.