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Iranian cleric Hassan Rouhani holds strong lead for presidency Iranian cleric Hassan Rouhani holds strong lead for presidency
(about 2 hours later)
The moderate Iranian cleric Hassan Rouhani is maintaining a strong lead in the race to be Iran's next president, with more than half of the ballots now counted.The moderate Iranian cleric Hassan Rouhani is maintaining a strong lead in the race to be Iran's next president, with more than half of the ballots now counted.
The reformist-backed Rouhani has just over 51% of the 23m votes counted so far, a commanding lead over the next candidate, Tehran's mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who has 16.3%. Other hardline candidates close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, including the current nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, are lagging even further behind. The reformist-backed Rouhani has just over 50% (14 million) of the 27.5 million votes counted so far, a commanding lead over his closest rival, Tehran's pragmatic mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who has 15.8% (4.3 million).
Rouhani could win in the first round if he finishes with more than 50%. Turnout was estimated at 80% among the 50 million Iranians eligible to vote for a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Saeed Jalili, Iran's current hardline chief nuclear negotiator, has 3.1 million votes (11.5%).
If Rouhani maintains his lead and the election does not go to a second round, conservatives close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will have to admit a crushing defeat.
Turnout was estimated at 80% among the 50 million Iranians eligible to vote for a successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
A Rouhani win would be a welcome surprise for many reformists, who are desperate to break back into mainstream Iranian politics after eight years of Ahmadinejad's hardline presidency.A Rouhani win would be a welcome surprise for many reformists, who are desperate to break back into mainstream Iranian politics after eight years of Ahmadinejad's hardline presidency.
The 65-year-old Rouhani is the only cleric among the eight candidates, but he is seen as a pro-reform moderate figure. He served as the chief nuclear negotiator under the former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, agreeing to halt uranium enrichment and co-operating more with the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Organisation. He has pledged to find a way out of the current stalemate over Iran's nuclear programme, which has prompted the west to impose unprecedented sanctions on the country. Although the only cleric among the eight candidates, the 65-year-old is seen as a pro-reform moderate figure. He has positioned himself as a moderate figure favouring political openness and improved relations with the west.
"It is good to have centrifuges running, provided people's lives and livelihoods are also running," Rouhani said during a TV debate. He has pledged to find a way out of the stalemate over Iran's nuclear programme that led the west to impose tough sanctions. "It is good to have centrifuges running, provided people's lives and livelihoods are also running," Rouhani said during a TV debate.
Seven hours after polling ended, Iran's interior minister, Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, appeared on state-run television to announce the initial results. Rouhani served as the chief nuclear negotiator under the former president Mohammad Khatami. Under his watch, Iran agreed to halt uranium enrichment and was more co-operative with the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Organisation.
The authorities had said the first results would come in just after 2am on Saturday (10.30pm Friday BST), but they did not come through until at least four hours later. This was in marked contrast to the previous vote in 2009, which many believed was rigged, when final results were announced within a few hours. Some analysts interpreted Jalili's likely defeat as a vote of no confidence in the current regime's nuclear policy. During the campaign, Rouhani repeatedly noted that on his watch Iran's nuclear dossier was not referred to the UN security council and no major sanctions were imposed.
"It has taken them seven hours to count 800,000 votes, while four years ago they counted almost 30 million votes in a few hours," one Tehran resident said via Facebook. "It might be a good sign that actually this time they're really counting." Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Rouhani's deputy in Iran's national security council between 1997 to 2005, and a spokesperson for Iran's nuclear negotiating team, said the results so far showed that people in Iran were desperate for a change in the country's foreign and economic policies.
Unlike in 2009, Iranian news agencies refrained for many hours from speculating on the results or publishing unofficial counts. Britain's former foreign secretary Jack Straw has described Rouhani as an experienced diplomat, "warm and engaging" and "a strong Iranian patriot".
Analysts believe rigging is less likely this year because Ahmadinejad is not running and the government has not endorsed any of the candidates. "This is a remarkable and welcome result so far and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be no jiggery-pokery with the final result," he said. "What this huge vote of confidence in Dr Rouhani appears to show is a hunger by the Iranian people to break away from the arid and self-defeating approach of the past and for more constructive relations with the west.
Ahmadinejad, who served for two tempestuous terms marked recently by deteriorating relations with the supreme leader, voted in the late afternoon, breaking with the convention that senior officials vote early as a sign of loyalty to Khamenei. "On a personal level I found him warm and engaging. He is a strong Iranian patriot and he was tough, but fair to deal with and always on top of his brief."
Also voting was Ebrahim Yazdi, the secretary general of the Freedom Movement of Iran, a banned group that is critical of the system. "Today's election is about choosing between bad and worse," he told the semi-official Mehr news agency. "Voting is a national duty and a right given to you by God." Trita Parsi, of the National Iranian American Council, said: "Though hardliners remain in control of key aspects of Iran's political system, the centrists and reformists have proven that even when the cards are stacked against them, they can still prevail due to their support among the population."
At least three children of the former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was disqualified from standing, were also reported to have voted. Rafsanjani publicly backed Rouhani earlier in the week and voted for him on Friday. Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian politics lecturer at Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya, Israel, described the results as a "total and absolute surprise".
Official statistics show that more than 50 million Iranians were eligible to vote, 1.6 million of them for the first time. In 2009, when Ahmadinejad won his second term, the opposition Green movement claimed victory and said the result had been rigged. Its leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, remains under house arrest. "If Rouhani wins in the first round, it'd be a clear sign that after the 2009 uprising, the supreme leader has learned that his regime needs to regain its legitimacy, and that will only come from counting the vote of the people."
In 2009, when Ahmadinejad won his second term, the opposition Green movement claimed victory and said the result had been rigged. Its leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, remains under house arrest. Analysts believe that rigging is less likely this year because Ahmadinejad is not running and the government has not endorsed any of the candidates.
Iran's rial recovered its value against the dollar by more 6% as results were announced in Rouhani's favour.
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