Iran smashes terror team on eve of runoff presidential election

Sharifi told reporters on Saturday that the eight members of the terror team were identified and arrested before they could carry out any act of sabotage.

The foreign-sponsored terrorists were to launch bombing attacks in different parts of Sistan and Baluchestan province, he added.

Sharifi further noted that Iran’s run-off presidential election ran smoothly in the province, thanks to the vigilance and alertness of security and law enforcement forces.

Masoud Pezeshkian received more than 16 million votes against former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili with more than 13 million out of over 30 million votes cast, electoral authorities said.

The runoff on Friday followed a June 28 ballot in a snap election to find a successor to President Ebrahim Raisi who lost his life along with his foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran.

Pezeshkian originally ran against a field of five candidates last week, winning the largest number of votes but falling short of a majority which sent him and Jalili to a second round.

In his first message after the election win, Pezeshkian thanked Iranians who came to vote “with love and to help” the country.

Electoral authorities put participation in the runoff election at around 50 percent.