TEHRAN: Iranians voted Friday in a presidential election in which ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi is seen as all but certain to coast to victory after all serious rivals were barred from running.
After a lacklustre campaign, low turnout was expected in a country exhausted by a punishing regime of US economic sanctions that has dashed the hopes of many for a brighter future. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, cast the first vote in Tehran and then urged Iran’s nearly 60 million eligible voters to follow suit before the scheduled close of polls at midnight (1930 GMT).
"The sooner you perform this task and duty, the better," said the 81-year-old, stressing that voting "serves to build the future" of the Iranian people. Pictures of often flag-waving voters in Iran dominated state TV coverage, but away from the polling stations some voiced anger at what they saw as a stage-managed election. Iranian opposition groups abroad and some dissidents at home have urged a boycott of the vote but many queued to vote at schools, mosques and community centres.
