Tehran, Iran: The counting of votes began in Iran on Saturday after a huge voter turnout in an unexpectedly tight presidential race between President Hassan Rouhani and hardliner Ebrahim Raisi.
ALSO READ: Presidential elections commence in Iran
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said that voting for presidential and local elections in Iran was extended for the third time as election officials accommodate the “enthusiastic participation of the people..
More than 40 million people voted in this election and such a huge voter turnout. The election will go to a runoff if no candidate wins more than 50% of votes cast.
Iran’s presidential elections will have a huge impact on the country’s relations with the West and on the Iran nuclear deal which was achieved after years of tough negotiations.
Electoral decisions in Iran are taken by its most powerful political body, the Guardian Council. It is the upper house of the Iranian Parliament and has twelve members all of whom are men. The Guardian Council is appointed by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of foreign and domestic policy.