Iran's judiciary chief and the top conservative candidate, Ebrahim Raeisi, looks all but certain to romp home victorious in the country's presidential election.
As per preliminary vote count of the 28.6 million votes cast, Raeisi was leading with 17.8 million, followed by Mohsen Rezaei with 3.3 million, Abdolnasser Hemmati with 2.4 million and Ghazizadeh Hashemi with one million votes, according to the Interior Ministry on Saturday.
Vote count was still underway with the final announcement still pending, but reports suggest Raeisi could be winning by a big margin.
All three rival candidates in the polls have issued separate statements congratulating Raeisi on his electoral victory, calling him "people's choice" and the "president-elect".
In a statement, his main reformist challenger and former top banker AbdolNaser Hemmati urged Raeisi to work for "hope, peace and welfare" of the people.
His two fellow conservatives, former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei and former deputy parliament speaker Ghazizadeh Hashemi, also congratulated him on being the "decisive choice" of the people.
Rezaei, in a statement, called for a "strong and popular government" that works to "solve problems of people".
President Hassan Rouhani also congratulated Raeisi, without naming him, on winning the presidential election.
