04 June, 2017
Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani has been elected to a second term in office with a wide margin of the national vote. Tens of thousands of supporters of President Hassan Rouhani have poured into the streets of Tehran as night falls to celebrate the incumbent's re-election. He had won more than three times as many votes as his closest challenger. According to the Minister, 23.549 mln voters (57% of those who participated in the vote) cast their ballots in favor of Rouhani. Reports state that Iran has a total of 56.4 million eligible voters.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram to Hassan Rouhani congratulating him on a convincing victory in the Iranian Presidential election", Sputnik news quoted a Kremlin statement, as saying. "I voted for my country's future", said one, 32-year-old Sarah Hassanpour, who wore a loosely fitting headscarf covering only the back of her head.
The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the country's most powerful security force, are unlikely to forget his attacks, which played to widespread frustration with a state that controls how Iranians speak, gather and dress. Given the importance of the IRGC to the clerical leadership, few Iranians harbour high hopes that Mr Rouhani will fulfil all his promises.
Election officials said the extensions to voting hours were due to "requests" and the "enthusiastic participation of people".
Two other hopefuls - Mostafa Mirsalim and Mostafa Hashemi Tab - won 478,215 and 215,450 votes respectively.
Iran and six world powers, including Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in July 2015 that put it on the path of sanctions relief, but with more strict limits on nuclear program.
Rouhani has been unable to secure the release of reformist leaders from house arrest, and media are barred from publishing the words or images of his reformist predecessor Khatami.
"They want to give President Rouhani another chance to see if his project of reducing tensions with some Western governments will actually work out". But as Rohani knows very well, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds ultimate political, military, and religious power in Iran, and can easily derail a campaign or thwart the plans of a president. Hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi has 10.1 million votes.
But the outcome of the election could have more immediate repercussions across the Middle East. Iran backs anti-Israel factions such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and has close ties with Syria's regime, which is opposed by the USA and its regional allies.
Ahmadi said the Interior Ministry expects to announce final results later Saturday.
