Officials have extended the opening hours of polling stations until midnight – the first part of the presidential election results are now available. Accordingly, the favorites Besheshkian and Jalili are in the lead.
In Iran, early partial results show signs of a close race between moderate-conservative politician Massoud Peseschkian and hardliner Said Jalili. After some 19 million votes had been counted, the head of the election commission announced on state television that Besheskian had 43.5 percent and Jalili 37.7 percent.
Incumbent Speaker of Parliament Muhammad Bakar Ghalib is third with 1.6 million votes. The fourth candidate, cleric Mustafa Bourmohammadi, received only 95,000 votes.
The snap election was called for after incumbent Ibrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May.
Official result tomorrow
The official result will be out tomorrow. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the two strongest candidates will go to a runoff on July 5.
Some 61 million voters were called on Friday to elect a new head of government. It is not yet clear how many people were involved. Research firms had earlier predicted a maximum voter turnout of 50 percent.
Polls were originally scheduled to close at 6 p.m., but officials extended their opening hours several times, for a total of six hours.
Lots of reviews to choose from
In total, the ultra-conservative Guardian Council endorsed only six candidates from the ultra-conservative and moderate-conservative camps, with four ultimately participating. This is one reason why critics say there is no real choice.
Most of the country’s population, especially the youth, has lost faith in major domestic political changes. Some activists, such as imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Narkus Mohammadi, called for a boycott of the vote.
Attack on election workers
There was one fatality in the south-east of the country. As Tasnim news agency reported, attackers attacked a vehicle of election workers carrying votes to Rask. They killed two security officers. The city and province have been the scene of several terrorist attacks in recent times.
With information from Karin Senz, ARD Studio Istanbul
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