The report says President Hassan Rouhani has an unbeatable lead in Iran’s presidential election and is set to defeat his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi. Photo: AFP

Dubai/Beirut: President Hassan Rouhani has an unbeatable lead in Iran’s presidential election, an Iranian official source told Reuters on Saturday, citing an early unofficial tally, and is set to defeat his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi and win a second term.

In a briefing for reporters, interior ministry official Ali Asghar Ahmadi outlined a similar proportion of votes received.

“It’s over, Rouhani is the winner,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

The pragmatist Rouhani won 21.6 million votes in Friday’s hard-fought contest, compared to 14 million for Raisi, with 37 million votes counted, the source said, adding about four million more votes were still to be tallied.

The interior ministry official said that with 25 million ballots certified by the authorities so far, Rouhani won 14.619 million and Raisi gained 10.125 million.

He said 40 million votes had been cast, indicating a turnout of about 70%, roughly similar to the showing in 2013 elections when Rouhani swept into office in a landslide victory

Ahmadi said final results would be announced later on Saturday.

The big turnout appeared to have favoured Rouhani, whose backers’ main worry has been apathy among reformist-leaning voters disappointed with the slow pace of change.

Rouhani, 68, who took office promising to open Iran to the world and give its citizens more freedom at home, faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from Raisi, a protege of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The election is important “for Iran’s future role in the region and the world”, Rouhani, who struck a deal with world powers two years ago to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the lifting of most economic sanctions, said after voting.

Raisi, 56, has accused Rouhani of mismanaging the economy and has travelled to poor areas, speaking at rallies pledging more welfare benefits and jobs.

He is believed to have the backing of the powerful Revolutionary Guards security force, as well as the tacit support of Khamenei, whose powers outrank those of the elected president but who normally steers clear of day-to-day politics.

“I respect the outcome of the vote of the people and the result will be respected by me and all the people,” Raisi said after voting, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

However, Raisi later appeared at the Ministry of Interior in Tehran on Friday and complained of a shortage of ballot sheets at many polling stations, according to Fars. More ballot sheets were subsequently sent out, the agency reported.

The Guards and other hardliners had hoped that a win for Raisi would have given them an opportunity to safeguard economic and political power they see as jeopardised by the lifting of sanctions and opening of the country to foreign investment.

During weeks of campaigning, the two main candidates exchanged accusations of corruption and brutality in unprecedentedly hostile television debates. Both deny the other’s accusations.

Rouhani has urged the Guards not to meddle in the vote, a warning that reflects the political tension. Suspicions that the Guards and the Basij militia under their control falsified voting results in favour of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009, which were violently suppressed.

For ordinary Iranians, the election presents a stark choice between competing visions of the country.

Rouhani, known for decades as a mild-mannered establishment insider rather than a gung-ho reformer, has taken on the mantle of the reform camp in recent weeks, with fiery campaign speeches that attacked the human rights records of his opponents.

“I voted for Rouhani to prevent Raisi’s victory. I don’t want a hardliner to be my president,” said Ziba Ghomeyshi in Tehran. “I waited in the line for five hours to cast my vote.”

Many pro-reform voters are still lukewarm Rouhani supporters, disappointed with his failure to make broader changes during his first term. But they were anxious to keep out Raisi, who they see as representing the security state at its most fearsome: in the 1980s he was one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death.

“I like his (Rouhani) detente policy with the world. I know he is not a reformist, but who cares? What matters is that he is not Raisi,” employee Yousef Ghaemi, 43, said by phone in the western city of Kermanshah.

For conservatives, the election represented a chance to restore the values of the 1979 revolution, which requires elected officials to be subordinate to the Shi’ite Muslim clergy and supreme leader.

“I voted for Raisi because he is a follower of Imam Khamenei. He will not confront the leader if elected. He will protect our Islamic identity,” said Mehran Fardoust, 36, a shopkeeper near the Imam Reza Shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, Raisi’s home town.

Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral US sanctions that target Iran’s record on human rights and terrorism have kept foreign companies wary of investing, limiting the economic benefits so far.

Raisi has focused his campaign on the economy, visiting rural areas and villages and promising housing, jobs and more welfare benefits, a message which could have resonated with millions of poor voters angry at the Tehran elite. Reuters </s> Iran says incumbent President Hassan Rouhani is ahead of his nearest competitor in an initial count of votes in the election.

Interior Ministry deputy minister Ali Asghar Ahmadi told journalists in a televised news conference Saturday morning that over 40 million Iranians voted in Friday's election. That puts turnout above 70 percent.

Ahmadi says the initial vote count has the moderate cleric Rouhani with 14.6 million votes. Hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi has 10.1 million votes.

Ahmadi says the Interior Ministry hopes to have final results later Saturday.

The Islamic Republic's first presidential election since the 2015 nuclear accord drew surprisingly large numbers of voters to polling stations, with some reporting waiting in line for hours to cast their votes. Election officials extended voting hours at least three times. </s> Iran’s incumbent president Hassan Rouhani is ahead of his nearest competitor in an initial count of votes in the election.

Interior Ministry deputy minister Ali Asghar Ahmadi said in a televised news conference on Saturday morning that more than 40 million Iranians voted in Friday’s election. That puts turnout above 70 per cent.

Mr Ahmadi said the initial vote count has the moderate cleric Mr Rouhani with 14.6 million votes. Hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi has 10.1 million votes.

Mr Ahmadi said the Interior Ministry hopes to have final results later on Saturday.

The Islamic Republic’s first presidential election since the 2015 nuclear accord drew surprisingly large numbers of voters to polling stations, with some reporting waiting in line for hours to cast their votes.

Election officials extended voting hours at least three times. </s> With more than half of votes counted, incumbent president appears set to beat conservative challenger Ebrahim Raisi.

Iran's reformist President Hassan Rouhani appeared to have a strong lead on Saturday as results poured in from a crucial election that could significantly influence the country's future.

Rouhani had 14.6 million out of 25.9 million votes counted so far, Ali Asghar Ahmad, the head of the election committee, announced on state television. His closest rival, principlist Ebrahim Raisi, had 10.1 million votes.

Two other candidates, conservative Mostafa Mirsalim and reformist Mostafa Hashemitaba, were also in the ballot, though they are not expected to win more than a few percent of the vote.

READ MORE: Iran's 2017 elections - All you need to know

A big turnout on Friday, estimated at more than 40 million out of 56 million registered voters, led to the vote being extended by several hours to deal with long queues.

Final results are expected later on Saturday.

The election is seen by many as a verdict on Rouhani's policy of opening up Iran to the world and his efforts to rebuild its stagnant economy.

Rouhani swept into office four years ago on a promise to reduce Iran's international isolation.

Friday poll was the first since he negotiated a historic deal with world powers in 2015 to curb the country's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Political commentator Mostafa Khoshcheshm said that in contrast to the 2013 election campaign, when Rouhani spoke about the removal of sanctions and the improvement of the economy, this time around his message was different.

"He resorted to other campaign slogans, like [calling for] social and political freedom, and he pushed the boundaries in order to gather public support, especially in large cities," Khoshcheshm told Al Jazeera.

"If he has secured this result, it's because of the large cities and the middle class society living there - they have voted for him and made him a president and they expect him to do his promises." </s> President Hassan Rouhani has an unbeatable lead in Iran’s presidential election, an Iranian official source told Reuters on Saturday, citing an early unofficial tally, and is set to defeat his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi and win a second term.

In a briefing for reporters, interior ministry official Ali Asghar Ahmadi outlined a similar proportion of votes received.

“It’s over, Rouhani is the winner,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

The pragmatist Rouhani won 21.6 million votes in Friday’s hard-fought contest, compared to 14 million for Raisi, with 37 million votes counted, the source said, adding about four million more votes were still to be tallied.

The interior ministry official said that with 25 million ballots certified by the authorities so far, Rouhani won 14.619 million and Raisi gained 10.125 million.

READ MORE: Iranian-Canadians drive to U.S. for only option to vote in Iran election

He said 40 million votes had been cast, indicating a turnout of about 70 percent, roughly similar to the showing in 2013 elections when Rouhani swept into office in a landslide victory

Ahmadi said final results would be announced later on Saturday.

The big turnout appeared to have favored Rouhani, whose backers’ main worry has been apathy among reformist-leaning voters disappointed with the slow pace of change.

Rouhani, 68, who took office promising to open Iran to the world and give its citizens more freedom at home, faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from Raisi, a protege of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The election is important “for Iran’s future role in the region and the world,” Rouhani, who struck a deal with world powers two years ago to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of most economic sanctions, said after voting.

Raisi, 56, has accused Rouhani of mismanaging the economy and has traveled to poor areas, speaking at rallies pledging more welfare benefits and jobs.

READ MORE: Iranian president’s nude statue cover up drives culture clash amid trip to Italy, France

He is believed to have the backing of the powerful Revolutionary Guards security force, as well as the tacit support of Khamenei, whose powers outrank those of the elected president but who normally steers clear of day-to-day politics.

“I respect the outcome of the vote of the people and the result will be respected by me and all the people,” Raisi said after voting, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

However, Raisi later appeared at the Ministry of Interior in Tehran on Friday and complained of a shortage of ballot sheets at many polling stations, according to Fars. More ballot sheets were subsequently sent out, the agency reported.

The Guards and other hardliners had hoped that a win for Raisi would have given them an opportunity to safeguard economic and political power they see as jeopardized by the lifting of sanctions and opening of the country to foreign investment.

During weeks of campaigning, the two main candidates exchanged accusations of corruption and brutality in unprecedentedly hostile television debates. Both deny the other’s accusations.

Rouhani has urged the Guards not to meddle in the vote, a warning that reflects the political tension. Suspicions that the Guards and the Basij militia under their control falsified voting results in favor of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009, which were violently suppressed.

For ordinary Iranians, the election presents a stark choice between competing visions of the country.

Rouhani, known for decades as a mild-mannered establishment insider rather than a gung-ho reformer, has taken on the mantle of the reform camp in recent weeks, with fiery campaign speeches that attacked the human rights records of his opponents.

“I waited in the line for five hours to cast my vote.”

Many pro-reform voters are still lukewarm Rouhani supporters, disappointed with his failure to make broader changes during his first term. But they were anxious to keep out Raisi, who they see as representing the security state at its most fearsome: in the 1980s he was one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death.

“I like his (Rouhani) detente policy with the world. I know he is not a reformist, but who cares? What matters is that he is not Raisi,” employee Yousef Ghaemi, 43, said by phone in the western city of Kermanshah.

READ MORE: Iran’s president condemns U.S. sanctions, calling them an ‘invasion’

For conservatives, the election represented a chance to restore the values of the 1979 revolution, which requires elected officials to be subordinate to the Shi’ite Muslim clergy and supreme leader.

“I voted for Raisi because he is a follower of Imam Khamenei. He will not confront the leader if elected. He will protect our Islamic identity,” said Mehran Fardoust, 36, a shopkeeper near the Imam Reza Shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, Raisi’s home town.

Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions that target Iran’s record on human rights and terrorism have kept foreign companies wary of investing, limiting the economic benefits so far.

Raisi has focused his campaign on the economy, visiting rural areas and villages and promising housing, jobs and more welfare benefits, a message which could have resonated with millions of poor voters angry at the Tehran elite. </s> President Hassan Rouhani was leading in Iran’s election with more than half of votes counted on Saturday, the head of the election committee announced.

Out of 25.9 million votes counted, Rouhani had 14.6 million and his hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi 10.1 million, said Ali Asghar Ahmadi on state television.

A huge turnout on Friday — estimated at more than 40 million out of 56 million registered voters — led to the vote being extended by several hours to deal with long queues.

Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric who spearheaded a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, has framed the vote as a choice between greater civil liberties and “extremism”.

But he has faced stiff competition from hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, 56, who positioned himself as a defender of the poor and called for a much tougher line with the West.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> Hassan Rouhani (pictured) has won Iran’s 12th presidential election, receiving a popular mandate for another four years in presidential office.

Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli appeared at a press briefing on Saturday to declare Rouhani the winner of the Friday election with 23,549,616 votes, or 57 percent of the total ballots.

Rahmani Fazli said that a total of 41,220,131 votes had been cast, and that the results he was announcing were almost definitive.

The candidate with the second largest number of votes was Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, who garnered 15,786,449 votes, or 38.5 percent.

Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim and Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, the other two candidates, received 478,215 and 215,450 votes respectively.

President Rouhani will speak live on state television at 6:00 p.m. Iran time (1330 GMT) on Saturday. </s> Counting is underway on Saturday in Iran’s Presidential election, with the official turnout said to be at about 70 per cent, poll officials said.

Millions of Iranians flocked to polling stations on Friday to vote in the election that pits incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, who is seeking a second term, against a strong conservative opposition.

Rouhani’s main challenger is Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline cleric and former prosecutor who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to the Interior Ministry, over 40 million votes were cast on Friday and voting time was extended by five hours due to “requests” and the “enthusiastic participation of people”, reports the BBC.

If no-one wins more than 50 per cent of votes cast, a run-off will be held next week.

Every incumbent President has been re-elected in Iran since 1985, when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself won a second term.

He cast his ballot just minutes after polls opened at 8 a.m.

Rouhani voted about an hour later.

More than 54 million people were eligible to vote in the presidential election.

Six candidates were approved by the Guardian Council, an influential clerical body controlled by conservatives, but two of them dropped out earlier this week, the BBC reported.

The first was Tehran’s hard-line mayor, Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, who pledged his support for Raisi on Monday.

He was followed on Tuesday by Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, a reformist, who pulled out to smooth the path for Rouhani.

The two other candidates still in the race are Mostafa Hashemitaba, a reformist, and Mostafa Mirsalim, an ultra-conservative figure. </s> Iran’s reformist President Hassan Rouhani has emphatically won the country’s presidential election, according to official results, fending off a challenge by the rival, Ebrahim Raisi.Rouhani secured a comfortable victory, with the other main contender, Embrahim Raisi, garnering the second highest votes. According to the state media.Rouhani received 23,549,616 votes (57%), compared to Raisi’s 15,786,449 votes, or 38.5 percent.A huge turnout was evidenced by the fact that polling stations remained open till midnight. It defied the apprehensions that moderates won’t vote owing to disenchantment from the regime’s economic performance.Iran’s interior minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, announced live on state television that Rouhani received 23,549,616 votes (57%), compared to Raisi’s 15,786,449 votes, or 38.5 percent.It is widely believed that Iranians endorsed Rouhani’s efforts to re-engage with the West and grant more liberties. The victor had framed the vote as a choice between liberties and extremism. Rouhani’s four-year stint was typified with openness as the president took the bold initiative of signing the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2015 to alleviate international isolation.Read more: Why was Ahmedinejad disqualified from Iranian elections? The elected president will have to fend off resistance from the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who outranks Rouhani.Rouhani thwarted a real threat in Embrahim Raisi, who had flared up populists concerns about a sluggish economy. Though he didn’t criticize the nuclear deal, he did berate Rouhani of mismanaging the economy and positioned himself as a defender of the poor and calling for a much tougher line with the West.Raisi was entrenched in the conservative establishment, having served as attorney general, supervisor of state broadcaster IRIB and prosecutor in the Special Court for Clerics.The election results showed that Iranians want liberties and openness; they are democratic enough to participate in a gradual change.“The last two decades of presidential elections have been short days of euphoria followed by long years of disillusionment,” said Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment who focuses on Iran.“Democracy in Iran is allowed to bloom only a few days every four years, while autocracy is evergreen.”– Karim SadjadpourThis shows that pundits are cautious in their optimism about the President’s power. Rouhani’s re-election provides him a chance to institute social and political reforms which he had envisaged. However, he will be restricted and often times thwarted in his attempts.
Incumbent President Hassan Rouhani is re-elected with 23.5 million votes, defeating Ebrahim Raisi who received 15.7 million votes.