Jalili withdraws presidential bid in favor of Raeisi

Following Alireza Zakani's withdrawal from elections earlier today, another Prinicpalist candidate Saeed Jalili announced his pullout this afternoon.

Jalili has asked his supporters to vote for Ebrahim Raeisi in a message published to the public after his resignation.

The Prinicplaist candidate has called for a massive turnout to help the next president.

In part of his message, he criticized the incumbent President Hassan Rouhani for his mismanagement and for not using the country's internal potentials.

Jalili was the third contender that withdrew after Zakani and Mehralizadeh.

He was one of the seven candidates qualified to run in the June 18 presidential elections by the vetting of the Guardian Council.

KI