TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, has approved the presidential elections results.

Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told state TV Tuesday that certain complaints by individual candidates had been forwarded to the judiciary, but the overall election results are declared valid.

Under the law, the council had 10 days to review the election result.

The approval clears the path for the start of the next term of re-elected Presidency Hassan Rouhani, who won the May 19 election with 57 percent of more than 41 million votes.

Rouhani will next receive the endorsement of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and will be inaugurated in August. </s> Iran's Interior Ministry says the Guardian Council has confirmed the result of the country's 12th presidential election, which saw President Hassan Rouhani reelected for another four years in office.

Guardian Council is the body responsible for overseeing elections and confirming their results in Iran.

“Minutes ago, the Guardian Council’s letter confirming the validity of the 12th presidential election was received,” Interior Ministry Spokesman Salman Samani said on Tuesday.

In the letter, Secretary of the Guardian Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati announced that the body had received and examined reports and complaints about the election process and ultimately verified the poll’s overall result, he added.

The official said the 12-member supervisory body had received complaints of irregularities in the electoral activities before the election and on the day of voting on May 19, adding that some of them had been sent to judicial bodies for more investigation.

An Iranian woman casts her ballot in the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran on May 19, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

President Rouhani, a moderate candidate, won a resounding reelection victory with 23,549,616 votes or 57 percent of the total ballots. His main rival in the four-man race, Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, a principlist, secured 15,786,449 votes or 38.5 percent of the ballots. Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim and Mostafa Hashemi-Taba, the other two candidates, received 478,215 and 215,450 votes respectively.

Overall turnout in Iran's 12th presidential election was registered at over 73 percent.

Six candidates had been approved after vetting by the Guardian Council to run for president. In the final days of campaigning, however, two of the candidates, namely First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, withdrew from the race in favor of President Rouhani and Raeisi, respectively. </s> Iran's election watchdog certified President Hassan Rouhani's reelection as fair on Tuesday, dismissing claims by the defeated hardline candidate who had asked for investigation into alleged widespread fraud.

LONDON: Iran's election watchdog certified President Hassan Rouhani's reelection as fair on Tuesday, dismissing claims by the defeated hardline candidate who had asked for investigation into alleged widespread fraud.

"The Guardian Council confirmed today in a letter the results of the 12th presidential election in Iran," Salman Samani, the spokesman of the interior ministry, was quoted as saying by the state media.

Rouhani easily secured reelection for a second term in the May 19 vote, winning more than 57 percent of the vote. His main challenger, hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi, received 38 percent.

Raisi has accused Rouhani of inappropriately using state media and government offices for campaign purposes.

He also protested against the voting procedure, accusing the interior ministry of not sending enough ballot papers to cities and villages where he had the most support.

The ministry has denied the allegations, saying that long queues affected all cities and millions of people could not cast their votes despite standing in line for hours.

"Some reports on violations were not valid, and some were referred to the judiciary," Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told state television.

The Guardian Council's announcement came as no surprise as its influential chairman, Ahmad Jannati, said last week that he could confirm the validity of the election despite violations.

Protests against the presidential election results in 2009 rocked Tehran and other cities for months, marking the biggest challenge to the Iranian authorities in the last two decades.

The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has since warned candidates against questioning the results, saying it would "serve the interests of the enemies" of the Islamic Republic. </s> Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who championed the country’s nuclear deal with world powers, registered on Friday to run for a second four-year term in the May presidential election, state TV reported.

Rouhani won election by a landslide in 2013 on a platform of ending the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic isolation and creating a freer society. </s> Iran's President Hassan Rouhani registered on Friday to run for a second four-year term in the country's May election.

A pragmatist who engineered the country's landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Rouhani won the 2013 election by a landslide on a platform of ending the Islamic Republic's diplomatic isolation and creating a freer society.

"Once again, I am here for Iran, for Islam, for freedom, and for more stability in this country. I am urging all Iranians to vote for Iran and for Islam," Rouhani told reporters on Friday.

READ MORE: Will Iranians re-elect Rouhani?

Critics of the nuclear deal say that the supposed economic benefits of lifted sanctions have yet to trickle down to average Iranians, and palpable frustration in the streets has created a potential opening for conservative opponents.

Rouhani has vowed to remain loyal to the nuclear deal.

"From now on, protecting the deal is one of the most important economic and political issues," he said.

Influential Shia leader Ebrahim Raisi, an ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears to be the leading hardline candidate so far. He also registered to run on Friday.

But despite months of talks, hardliners have been unable to unite behind a single candidate, and Khamenei has not yet intervened to make them do so.

Within Iran's complex mix of clerical rulers and elected officials, Khamenei has the final say on all state matters.

Though Rouhani won in a single round with more than 50 percent of the vote in 2013 - an election in which no other candidate took more than 17 percent - he could face a tougher campaign this time if hardliners join forces against him.

The five-day registration period for the May 19 election began on Tuesday and will be followed by a process of vetting of the hopefuls by a hardline watchdog body, the Guardian Council.

The Guardian Council, which normally does not approve dissidents or women, will announce the final list of candidates by April 27.

More than 950 people have signed up so far for the vote, among them the hardline former Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who registered on Wednesday. </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> 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> Iran's re-elected president Hassan Rouhani has been sworn in for his second term in an open parliament session.

Rouhani, 68, a moderate cleric who secured re-election on May 19, promised that his country will pursue a "path of coexistence and interaction with the world."

Rouhani was first elected in 2013 with nearly 51 percent of the vote.

Iran's state TV reported that more than 130 high-ranking officials from various countries and international organizations attended the ceremony in Tehran. Among them was EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who coordinates follow-up of Iran's nuclear deal.

It was the first time in Iran's history that a large number of foreign officials attended the president's inauguration ceremony. </s> Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has clashed with the country's powerful and conservative judiciary, in a rare public row as tensions rise ahead of this year's presidential election. The moderate Rouhani, who is expected to stand for a second four-year term in the May vote, has targeted the judiciary in a series of public statements over the case of a billionaire businessman on death row for corruption.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Yahoo!.
Guardian Council officially confirmed the result of the election which saw Incumbent President Hassan Rouhani reelected for another four years in office.