▲ Iranian President-elect Raishi


In Iran's presidential election, hard-line conservative Seyed Ebrahim Laishi was virtually elected by an overwhelming majority.



Iran's Interior Ministry, which manages the presidential election, announced today (19th) that 28.6 million votes were counted, and Raishi received 17.8 million votes, or about 62 percent, of his rival, reformist Abdolnasser Hemmati. said.



According to state-run Press TV, the vote counting rate so far has been over 90%, so there is no chance that the rankings will change.



Candidate Mosen Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guard Corps candidate, got the second most votes with 3.3 million votes.



The final voter turnout and the number of votes received by each candidate, as compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, have not yet been released.



Laish, one of Iran's representative hardline conservative clerics, became the head of the judiciary, one of the three factors in 2019.



Candidate Laishi is also the Vice-Chairman of the National Leadership Council, which has the authority to determine the succession of the Supreme Leader in case of death or absence.



President Hassan Rouhani visited Laishe shortly after the announcement by the Interior Ministry for talks and congratulatory messages.



Helmati, who competed for the reformist candidate, wrote on Instagram today, "Congratulations on the election of Candidate Laishi in the 13th presidential election. We wish Laishi's government to promote the livelihood and happiness of the honorable Iranians."



Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said today "The great victor of yesterday's victory is the Iranian people, because the Iranian people rose up in the face of propaganda in the media acting as mercenaries of the enemy."



A former clergyman, Laishi studied under Khamenei at a seminary in his youth.



Laishi is also one of the most promising candidates for the next supreme leader.



The total number of voters in this election is 59.3 million.



Polling stations have been set up in 72,000 places across the country for elections.



Voting started at 7 am yesterday and continued until 2 am today the next day.



The term of the Iranian president is four years, with the possibility of one re-appointment.



The current President, Rouhani, who succeeded in re-election in 2017, will end his term in August. 



(Photo=AFP, Yonhap News)