TEHERAN — Voting started in a presidential runoff in Iran early Friday, in which reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and principlist Saeed Jalili race for the presidency, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi announced.

Vahidi called on Iranians to go to the polling stations and cast their votes in the early hours of the day, noting a total of 58,638 polling stations were set up across the country.

In an address to reporters after casting his vote, he said "today is a good day; the day of our beloved people's presence, participation, and becoming active in the election, which is an important political affair of the country"

The voting, which started at 8:00 am local time (0430 GMT) and will continue until 6:00 pm (1430 GMT), may be extended by the Interior Ministry if necessary.

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The candidate with the highest number of votes at the end of the runoff will be the next Iranian president.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cast his ballot at a mobile polling station in the Iranian capital Teheran immediately after the start of the voting process.

In an address to reporters after casting his vote, he said "today is a good day; the day of our beloved people's presence, participation, and becoming active in the election, which is an important political affair of the country."

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Four candidates competed in the first round of the election, which was held on June 28, but none secured the required more than 50 percent of the votes, sending the country to a runoff. Pezeshkian, Iran's former health minister, received more than 42 percent, and Jalili, the former chief negotiator in the nuclear talks between Teheran and world powers, garnered over 38 percent.

Over 24 million of the more than 61 million people eligible to vote participated in the first round, a turnout of 40 percent.

Iran's 14th presidential election, which had initially been set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran on May 19.