Moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani wins race for presidency in Iran
Hassan Rowhani well ahead in Iranian election to decide a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani has won Iran's presidential election, Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar announced on state television yesterday.
Najjar said 72 per cent of the more than 50.5 million Iranians eligible to vote had turned at polling stations, and that Rowhani had secured just over the threshold 50 per cent of the vote required to avoid a run-off.
He was well ahead of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf with about 16.5 per cent. Hard-line nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili came in third with 11.3 per cent.
The withdrawal of the sole reformist from the race had left the field open for Rowhani to win the votes of moderates and reformists and secure a big lead over his divided hardline opponents.
In the run-up to Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 re-election, official election results were quickly released. But in this campaign, counting has been time consuming. Interior minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said electoral staff would not "compromise accuracy for speed".
Almost two-thirds of all Iranians were eligible to vote for a successor to Ahmadinejad, who after serving two consecutive terms was constitutionally barred from standing for office again. Voters turned out in massive numbers, with Rowhani benefitting from the withdrawal last week of the only reformist candidate Mohammad Reza Aref. Aref, a former first vice-president, pulled out of the race last Tuesday at the urging of former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who then threw his weight behind Rowhani.
