Rouhani leads Iran presidential race

President Hassan Rouhani has an unbeatable lead in Iran’s presidential election, an Iranian official source told Reuters on Saturday, citing an early unofficial tally, and is set to defeat his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi and win a second term, Reuters reported. In a briefing for reporters, interior ministry official Ali Asghar Ahmadi outlined a similar proportion of votes received.

“It’s over, Rouhani is the winner,” the source said on condition of anonymity. Rouhani won 21.6 million votes in Friday’s hard-fought contest, compared to 14 million for Raisi, with 37 million votes counted, the source said, adding about four million more votes were still to be tallied. The interior ministry official said that with 25 million ballots certified by the authorities so far, Rouhani won 14.619 million and Raisi gained 10.125 million. He said 40 million votes had been cast, indicating a turnout of about 70 percent.