Rouhani Wins Big

Financial Tribune – Hassan Rouhani will serve a second term as a solid majority of voters delivered the pragmatist incumbent a strong mandate in the Friday presidential vote that saw a turnout unseen in recent history.

He got 23.5 million votes, leading by 8 million ballots from his nearest rival Ebrahim Raeisi, who got 15.7 million votes, indicating a 57% to 38% victory, according to Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli who spoke in a televised news conference on Saturday afternoon.

Polls opened on 8 a.m. local time and were supposed to close by 6 p.m. But long queues outside most polling stations prompted the election organizer (Interior Ministry) to extend the voting four times.

The counting started soon after midnight and the first partial results Saturday morning indicated that Rouhani was ahead by a wide margin.

In a brief address after the final results were officially announced, the president said with his reelection “peace and reconciliation” had won over “tension and violence.”

He said the message of his government to the international community is that Iran seeks “constructive interaction” with the world, but will not give in to “humiliation”, referring to pressure tactics by some powers to compel Iran to compromise on its policies.