Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei began the run-off election for the Iranian presidential elections on Friday by casting his own ballot.
Some 61 million voters in Iran were eligible to elect a successor to hardliner Ebrahim Raisi on Friday after he died in a helicopter crash in May.
Earlier in the week, two conservative hardliner candidates withdrew their nominations to unite support among hardline voters heading to the polls.
He urged others with a similar political bent to follow suit.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said his country and Syria should expand their cooperation to overcome political and economic pressure from the U.S. and Europe.
The State TV said, “Some unconfirmed reports say that the helicopter carrying President Raisi has had an accident in East Azerbaijan province.”
“The bombings on Gaza must stop immediately … the path of oil and food exports to the Zionist regime should be stopped.”
Iran’s leaders have invited their regional rival Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdelaziz for an official visit.
Talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the six other parties to the agreement have been deadlocked since March.
