2005 Iranian presidential election

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2005 Iranian presidential election

← 2001 17 June 2005 (first round) 24 June 2005 (second round) 2009 →
Turnout	62.66% (first round) 59.84% (second round)
Nominee Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Akbar Rafsanjani Party ABII CCA Alliance Principlists Reformists Popular vote 17,284,782 10,046,701 Percentage 63.24% 36.76%
First round results by province Second round results by province
President before election Mohammad Khatami ACC Elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ABII

Presidential elections were held in Iran 17 June 2005, with a second round run-off on 24 June. Mohammad Khatami, the outgoing president of Iran, stepped down on 2 August 2005, after serving his maximum two consecutive four-year terms according to the Islamic republic's constitution.

As no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off was held between the top two candidates, former president (1989–1997) Akbar Rafsanjanī and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline mayor of Tehran. Although Ahmadinejad had finished second in the first round of voting, he won the second round with 63% of the vote. Factors thought to have contributed to Ahmadinejad's victory include mobilization of mosque networks and conservative/hardline voters, and a protest vote against corrupt elite insiders and for "new political blood".^[1] He was a loyal supporter of conservative Supreme Leader Khamenei.^[2][3]