Supporters of the two leading candidates in Iran’s presidential election took to the streets as official campaigning came to an end.

But despite festive scenes ahead of Friday’s vote, there has been tension between the moderate and reformist forces and hardline fundamentalists with fiery exchanges.

It has turned into a tight race between incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, described as a pragmatist, and the hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi.

One young woman in Tehran told Euronews: “We’ve gone forward with hope and we think moderation is the best thing.

“We want it to happen. We want our candidate to win. We want to have hope.”

One young man said: “I’m holding both photos (Rouhani and Raisi) to say we’re all Iranians, that unity matters and no matter who we choose the important thing is to vote and choose by logic.”

As the campaigning came to an end there was an intervention by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday.

He slammed the heated tone of the election campaign, describing it as “unworthy”.

Some observers read that as a thinly veiled attack on President Rouhani and his attacks on Raisi.</s>Two recent rallies in Tehran highlighted just how different the two candidates’ supporters and their concerns for the country are.

Tehran: The small huddle of chador-wearing women handing out campaign cards of conservative candidates for the city council at the complex gate barely hinted at the hordes that had already made a beeline for Shabestan, the cavernous hall at Imam Khomeini Mosalla in north Tehran.

As the main hall loomed closer, the trickle of people turned into continuous streams of men and women, amidst a cacophony of horns and excited chatter. They came with hand-written placards and printed posters, and moved towards the gates quickly.

Several were already marching to slogans that would soon boom around the rally advertised as the “biggest convention” of conservative candidate Ebrahim Raisi’s followers. Female volunteers wearing a red sash checked bags and tried to maintain a semblance of discipline – but this often seemed like a losing battle. Thousands of long-stemmed red roses were distributed, which were promptly planted at the top of small iranian flags.

After President Hassan Rouhani staged a highly successful show of strength on Sunday, the conservative camp – or the ‘principalists’, as they are known in Iran – pulled out all the stops to project the breadth of their support in the Iranian capital city three days ahead of the presidential elections on May 19.

An hour before the scheduled start at 4:30 pm, 26-year-old Tahoora was standing outside the hall gates, absorbing in the building excitement and posing for the camera with her 15-month-old baby, who playing with a poster for Raisi in his stroller.

“Our national honour has been darkened by the failure of Barjam,” said the law student, using the Farsi acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Point of Action. Rouhani has been assailed by his opponents for failing to cash in on the nuclear deal in order to recover from the economic recession, with remaining US sanctions continuing to stall foreign investment due to restricted banking. She also accusing Rouhani was not taking a firmer position with Saudi Arabia. Tahoora, who gave only her first name, was swathed in an all-encompassing chador, just like the overwhelming majority of women at the rally.

While Rouhani has visibly raised the public profile of Iranian women, Tahoora felt that Raisi also has pro-women credentials. “His wife is a very active supporter of women’s rights,” she argued. In fact, Raisi prominently mentions his wife, Jamileh Alamolhoda, in his campaign video, which is certainly an attempt to offset Rouhani’s stated claims that only he “understands” women.

As Tahoora stood in front of the gates, two men walked up the steps, with the words, “Qalibaf, thank you for your support”.

Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagherhad Qalibaf withdrew his third presidential bid on Monday evening and called on his followers to vote for Raisi. Immediately after the announcement, the Raisi’s campaign released a poster depicting Qalibaf in a yellow construction hat, along with a smiling visage of Raisi.

Qalibaf’s gesture – though expected – surprised some of his most devoted followers. Earlier on Monday, Masoumeh Furahmand, sitting at one of Qalibaf’s campaign offices, was adamant that her candidate would not consider stepping aside. “In the last 12 years, whatever he has promised, he has done,” she explained the reason behind her admiration of Qalibaf.

A former Revolutionary Guards commander, Qalibaf cornered plaudits for developing Tehran’s impressive public spaces, but his chameleon-like makeovers ahead of his last two presidential bids raised questions about his political stability. There were also more and more concerns raised over corruption, which were alluded to during televised debates. A recent fire at central Tehran’s Plasco building that left 15 firemen died and flagged lax safety standards, fuelling further criticism.

Nevertheless, Qalibaf had a dedicated cadre of voters. In the 2013 election, he got 6,083,553 votes or 16% of the total ballot, coming in second in the race after Rouhani.

“All of us at the campaign headquarters cried when he announced his decision, but we will follow what he told us,” Furahmand told The Wire on Tuesday.

At Tuesday’s rally, Hussein Airaki, 23, held a poster for Qalibaf among the sea of Raisi supporters. “I had voted for Rouhani in 2013, as he had a plan to bring down inflation. He doesn’t act on what he has said. This time, I am with Qalibaf, and now I will vote for Raisi,” he said.

According to Farzan Sabet of Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, Qalibaf’s stepping down was a reflection of the “serious desire” of conservations to defeat Rouhani. “This requires that the unify behind a single candidate to avoid splitting their support as they did in the 2013 Iranian presidential election. Raisi was the candidate with the most credibility and influence among conservatives, and for this reason they decided to unify behind him and pressured Ghalibaf to drop out, even if the latter may have had broader popular appeal,” Sabet told The Wire.

Also read: In Iran Election, Rouhani’s Real Opponent is the Economy, Not Conservatives

According to most analysts, the entire bloc of Qalibaf supporters are not expected to side with Raisi, with some likely to vote for Rouhani. Sabet was less optimistic about Raisi getting onto the winning podium with the help of Qalibaf’s votes. “Raisi needed all of Ghalibaf’s votes and then some to win, but given that some of the latter’s votes will go to Rouhani, this places a victory increasingly out of reach,” he said. But the divided loyalties of Qalibaf voters did not seem to bother those at the Sabehstan, where high-pitched screams and passionate sing-alongs gave the event the feel of a rock concert.

Despite Raisi not arriving on time, there was no dip in the interest. The crowd waited for over one and a half hours, waving the red and green Iranian flag as they chanted slogans about an eminent farewell to Rouhani. “End of the week, Rouhani is gone,” shouted the entire audience in unison. At other times, they sloganeered, “Welcome Raisi, you should go Rouhani”. There was also loud support for Lebanon’s biggest Shia militant group. “Mashallah, Hezbollah,” the crowd roared again and again.

Iran’s involvement in another conflict in the region was also apparent – a women walked around the hall with a poster of a soldier who had been killed in Syria.

Almost every hand held a smartphone, scanning over the top of heads towards the dais which displayed images of Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei.

The master of ceremonies exhorted the gathering to spread the message of the rally, through photos and text, on social media – a reflection of how the hardliners had to match up to the reformists in harnessing the new medium. In Iran, Twitter and Facebook are banned, but Telegram and Instagram are the platform of choice for political campaigners to spread their missive. Many placards displayed the Farsi-language hashtag ‘Rouhani Buro’ or ‘Go Rouhani’. While some had pinned this message to the back of their t-shirts, a young boy inked it on his lower arm.

The crowd finally got their money’s worth when a black-turbaned Raisi joined hands with Qalibaf and raised them high, amidst thunderous applause. Raisi’s speech was peppered with catchphrases, calling for a return of the ‘revolutionary’ spirit with a ‘revolutionary administration’ and promising to practice ‘revolutionary diplomacy’.

The adulation of a presidential campaign is a new experience for Raisi, who is a political novice compared to Qalibaf. A former student of Qom and a judicial officer for a decade, Raisi came to the spotlight only last year when Khamanei appointed him as the head of the entity that runs the Imam Reza shrine in Iran’s holiest city, Masshad. The Astan-e Qods Razavi organisation is the wealthiest charitable foundation in Iran, with a vast business empire.

The appointment fuelled speculation that Raisi is actually being groomed not just for Iran’s second highest post, but to succeed Khamanei. Raisi’s father-in-law Alam al-Hoda, an influential cleric in Masshad, is also an old comrade-in-arms of Khamenei.

While Rouhani supporters highlight the impracticality of his populist promises and inexperience, they also widely circulate social media posts reminding the voters that Raisi was involved in the ‘prison executions’ of 1988.

The contrast between the Tehran rallies of Rouhani and Raisi could not be more stark. While the enthusiasm of Rouhani supporters has got a boost from the president’s performance in the last presidential debate, the loud slogans referred to the unfulfilled promise to free Green movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi from house arrest, criticised state TV and raised their voice against the segregation of men and women. Unlike Raisi’s rally with separate sections, men and women sat together at Rouhani’s Azadi stadium event.

As Raisi’s women supporters traipsed past the mezzanine balcony to go down the main hall, many of them looked askance at a young woman sitting alone on a raised platform right at the back. Wearing a slim-fitting overdress on jeans, a casual scarf and grey polish on her long, manicured fingernails, 28-year-old Chantia certainly seemed out of place among the well-wrapped audience at the rally. “You don’t look like a Raisi supporter. Are you one?” some of them asked her in passing, as she smiled.

Chantia certainly had a reason to keep quiet. Among the tens of thousands of Raisi followers, she was perhaps the only Rouhani supporter. And she was at the rally on a personal mission. “I saw pictures of Raisi’s rally in Isfahan on telegram. It seemed even larger than Rouhani’s rally. That’s why I wanted to come here and see his level of support with my own eyes,” she said. As she listened to yet another religious song on the loudspeaker system, Chantia pointed out that Masshad has banned permission for all concerts. “For the next four years, we will only listen to this,” she said, laughing.

Witnessing the passion of the women at the rally, Chantia was worried. “Maybe they can win, too,” she said.

When Raisi started to speak, she got up and went closer to the balcony railing, which was already blocked by a phalanx of bodies, using elbows to try and get a view as well as an update for their social media accounts. Even though Raisi had not stopped speaking, several audience members had already started to walk out of the hall to escape the eventual crush when the event officially ended. Outside the hall, hundreds of men were listening to the live audio, as they had been unable to enter the completely full men’s section.

Khusraw, a 54-year-old retired Tehran resident, was leaving early, but he was satisfied after attending the rally that Raisi had a chance to win on May 19. “I am not worried. He has the ability to be a good manager. He managed the Imam Reza shrine well,” Khushraw said when asked about Raisi’s inexperience in governance. His opposition to Rouhani was also due to Rouhani’s diplomatic soft touch. “Imam Khamenei has said that we should always choose those whom our enemies don’t want,” he said.

After the rally by Raisi’s supporters ended by late evening, it was the turn of Rouhani’s followers – all of them young men and women – to take over the streets of central Tehran on Tuesday night. While some stood on the central verge of main roads and shouted slogans, others drove around in cars, waving the campaign flag and posters at passing vehicles.

“This is a very tight race This election for reformists is a matter of survival and principalists also seek a win. We can say both parties have deployed their entire political and social capacities for a preferred outcome,” Iranian journalist Mohammad Hashemi told The Wire.

Latest opinion surveys continue to show Rouhani as the frontrunner, but polls in Iran are notoriously unreliable. Just as the conservatives, the reformists are also consolidating their votes to avoid a run-off. While Qalibaf stepped down, Eshaq Jahangiri, first vice president, announced his support for Rouhani on Tuesday evening. Jahangiri had been expected to step aside for Rouhani, as his candidacy was mainly seen as ‘plan b’ for the reformists in case Rouhani’s candidature was disqualified by the Guardian Council. The third reformist candidate, Mostafa Hashemitaba, has also said that he will vote for Rouhani.

Hashemi noted that while the principalists are taking advantage of their influence in the traditional sections of society, reformists are drawing strength from their civil society strength. “At the same time, Rouhani has the advantage of being the incumbent, but principalists are benefiting from their own long-established political structures,” explained Hashemi.

What to read next:</s>Dubai: Iranians vote on Friday in a bitter presidential contest between pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani and hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi that could determine the pace of economic and social reform and Iran's re-engagement with the world.

In a warning reflecting rising political tensions amid signs of an unexpectedly close race, Rouhani urged Iran's powerful elite Revolutionary Guards, believed to support Raisi, not to meddle in the election.

Suspicions that the Guards and the Basij militia under their control falsified voting results in favour of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds arrested, human rights groups say, in the worst unrest to hit the Islamic Republic.

Raisi, 56, and Rouhani, 68, traded charges of graft and brutality on live television with an open vehemence unseen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Both deny the other's accusations.

"From the Revolutionary Guards to Friday prayer leaders, the hardline, unelected part of the establishment backs Raisi," a senior former Iranian official told Reuters.

"But it is a risky decision. It might cause protests similar to those in 2009, as different walks of the society, desiring evolution inside the establishment, have united against Raisi."

The Guards hope that a win for Raisi will give them an opportunity to claw back economic and political power lost in Shi'ite Iran's complex theocratic and republican governing structure since 2015 when Iran struck a nuclear deal with world powers that brought it out of international isolation.

Although Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 77, is guarded about his political preferences, he appears to back Raisi both as a presidential candidate and possible successor.

But in an apparent reference to the 2009 disturbances, Khamenei, an unelected clerical hardliner who has the ultimate say in Iran, has previously warned he would confront anyone trying to interfere in the election.

Rouhani, who championed the deal to lift most sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its disputed nuclear programme, is a staunch supporter of engagement with the West and liberal reforms to the economy, now dominated by state institutions.

He also says a hardline victory could put Iran back on a more confrontational, economically damaging course with the West, and would prevent the opening of society that a majority of Iranians, especially the youth, yearn to see.

But hardline rivals hammered Rouhani over his failure to boost an economy weakened by decades of sanctions, even after most were rescinded following the nuclear agreement.

Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions that target Iran's record on human rights and terrorism have kept many foreign companies wary of putting stakes in the Iranian market.

A protégé of Khamenei, Raisi focused his campaign on the economy, visiting rural areas and villages, promising housing, jobs and more welfare benefits for the poor.

Analysts have rejected Raisi's promises of jobs and cash handouts as unrealistic but admit these could win traction with voters who have felt few benefits so far from the nuclear deal.

Raisi, a long-serving member of the judiciary who was one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in 1988, gathered the hardline camp behind him after other conservative candidates dropped out of the race.

But analysts agreed the gathering of Khamenei's powerful allies behind Raisi seemed to have the unintended effect of energising Rouhani's supporters, uniting opposition and pro-reform figures, artists and activists to back his re-election.

"This is a polarised election - a race between powerful unelected centres of power and the rest of the country," said analyst Hamid Farahvashian.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, said Rouhani's warning to the Guards about electoral interference "could be aimed at forcing the establishment to back his second term".

The campaign was replete with caustic televised debates and bruising broadsides. Raisi accused Rouhani of "economic elitism, mismanagement, yielding to Western pressure, and corruption".

Rouhani hit back in a sharper campaign strategy to mobilise Iranian women and young people who became jaded about the vote after losing hope in his ability to ease religious repression in society as promised in 2013, when he won by a landslide.

A poll conducted on May 8 by the Iranian Students Polling Agency gave Rouhani 42 percent of the vote and Raisi 27 percent. While opinion polls are unreliable in Iran, the May 8 poll was broadly in line with others held in recent days.

While the vote may not have a decisive influence on foreign policy, which is set by Khamenei, the election of a hardliner could harm Iran's global image and further deter foreign trade and investment seen as vital to rebuilding the economy.

Although rights campaigners say there have been few, if any, moves to bring about greater freedoms under Rouhani, many young Iranians see Rouhani as the sole choice, even if it is one they are likely to make without real enthusiasm.

More than a third of Iran's 80 million population is under age 30 and yearns for reform. Women comprise more than half the population and have lesser rights than men in areas including inheritance, divorce and child custody.

Polls open at 0330 GMT and close at 1330 GMT, although authorities often extend voting hours into the evening.

Some 300,000 security forces were deployed around the country to safeguard the security of the election.</s>DUBAI: Millions of Iranians joined long queues to vote on Friday, an early sign of strong turnout in an unexpectedly tight presidential election that could determine the future of the country's nascent emergence from international isolation.

The presidential vote pits incumbent Hassan Rouhani, who wants to normalise ties with the West, against a hardline judge who says Rouhani has gone too far and sold out the values of Iran's Islamic revolution to its enemies.

Rouhani, who struck a deal with world powers two years ago to curb Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of most economic sanctions, said the election was important "for Iran's future role in the region and the world".

"Whoever wins the election, we should help him to fulfil this important and serious duty," state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying after voting.

Rouhani, 68, who swept into office four years ago promising to open Iran to the world and give its citizens more freedom at home, faces an unexpectedly strong challenge from Ebrahim Raisi, a protege of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Raisi has blamed Rouhani for mismanaging the economy and has travelled to poor areas holding rallies, pledging more welfare benefits and jobs.

He is believed to have the backing of the powerful Revolutionary Guards security force, as well as the tacit support of Khamenei, whose powers outrank those of the elected president but who normally steers clear of day-to-day politics.

"I respect the outcome of the vote of the people and the result will be respected by me and all the people," Raisi said after voting, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

In the last election, Rouhani won more than three times as many votes as his closest challenger. But this time the outcome promises to be much closer, as other conservative rivals have backed out and thrown their support behind Raisi.

The Guards and other hardliners hope that a win for Raisi, 56, will give them an opportunity to safeguard economic and political power they see as jeopardised by the lifting of sanctions and opening to foreign investment.

During weeks of campaigning the two main candidates exchanged accusations of graft and brutality in unprecedentedly hostile television debates. Both deny the other's accusations.

Some 350,000 members of the security forces were deployed around the country to protect the election, state television reported. The interior ministry said at mid-day that it had no reports of electoral offences so far, state television reported.

Rouhani has urged the Guards not to meddle in the vote, a warning that reflects the political tension. Suspicions that the Guards and the Basij militia under their control falsified voting results in favour of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009, which were violently suppressed.

For ordinary Iranians, the election presents a stark choice between competing visions of the country.

Rouhani, known for decades as a mild-mannered establishment insider rather than a gung-ho reformer, has taken on the mantle of the reform camp in recent weeks, with fiery campaign speeches that attacked the human rights records of his opponents.

Many pro-reform voters are still lukewarm Rouhani supporters, disappointed with the slow pace of change during his first term. But they are anxious to keep out Raisi, who they see as representing the security state at its most fearsome: in the 1980s he was one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death.

"I am on my way to vote for Rouhani. I like his detente policy with the world. I know he is not a reformist, but who cares? What matters is that he is not Raisi," government employee Yousef Ghaemi, 43, said by phone in the western city of Kermanshah.

For conservatives, the election represents a chance to restore the values of the 1979 revolution, which requires elected officials to be subordinate to the Shi'ite Muslim clergy and supreme leader.

"I cast my vote already - I voted for Raisi because he is a follower of Imam Khamenei. He will not confront the leader if elected. He will protect our Islamic identity," said Mehran Fardoust, 36, a shop keeper near the Imam Reza Shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, Raisi's home town.

In public, Khamenei has remained neutral, repeatedly calling for a high turnout. But Iranians in both political camps suspect he is in fact backing his protege Raisi - not only for the presidency but potentially also as a possible successor to his own post of supreme leader, which the 77-year-old hardline cleric has held since 1989.

Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions that target Iran's record on human rights and terrorism have kept foreign companies wary of investing in Iran, limiting the economic benefits so far.

Raisi has focused his campaign on the economy, visiting rural areas and villages and promising housing, jobs and more welfare benefits, a message which could resonate with millions of poor voters angry at the Tehran elite.

Two other conservative candidates are still officially in the race. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two, presumably Rouhani and Raisi, would face each other a second time in a run-off in a week.

Polls close at 6 p.m. (1330 GMT), although authorities often extend voting into the evening. Ballot counting will start at midnight and final results are expected within 24 hours of polls closing, TV reported. The elections are also for city and village councils.</s>DUBAI Iranians vote on Friday in a bitter presidential contest between pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani and hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi that could determine the pace of economic and social reform and Iran's re-engagement with the world.In a warning reflecting rising political tensions amid signs of an unexpectedly close race, Rouhani urged Iran's powerful elite Revolutionary Guards, believed to support Raisi, not to meddle in the election.Suspicions that the Guards and the Basij militia under their control falsified voting results in favour of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds arrested, human rights groups say, in the worst unrest to hit the Islamic Republic.Raisi, 56, and Rouhani, 68, traded charges of graft and brutality on live television with an open vehemence unseen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Both deny the other's accusations. "From the Revolutionary Guards to Friday prayer leaders, the hardline, unelected part of the establishment backs Raisi," a senior former Iranian official told Reuters."But it is a risky decision. It might cause protests similar to those in 2009, as different walks of the society, desiring evolution inside the establishment, have united against Raisi."The Guards hope that a win for Raisi will give them an opportunity to claw back economic and political power lost in Shi'ite Iran's complex theocratic and republican governing structure since 2015, when Iran struck a nuclear deal with world powers that brought it out of international isolation. POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR TO KHAMENEI

 Although Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 77, is guarded about his political preferences, he appears to back Raisi both as a presidential candidate and possible successor.But in an apparent reference to the 2009 disturbances, Khamenei, an unelected clerical hardliner who has the ultimate say in Iran, has previously warned he would confront anyone trying to interfere in the election.

Rouhani, who championed the deal to lift most sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its disputed nuclear programme, is a staunch supporter of engagement with the West and liberal reforms to the economy, now dominated by state institutions.He also says a hardline victory could put Iran back on a more confrontational, economically damaging course with the West, and would prevent the opening of society that a majority of Iranians, especially the youth, yearn to see.But hardline rivals hammered Rouhani over his failure to boost an economy weakened by decades of sanctions, even after most were rescinded following the nuclear agreement.Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions that target Iran's record on human rights and terrorism have kept many foreign companies wary of putting stakes in the Iranian market. A protégé of Khamenei, Raisi focused his campaign on the economy, visiting rural areas and villages, promising housing, jobs and more welfare benefits for the poor. "UNREALISTIC" PROMISES

Analysts have rejected Raisi's promises of jobs and cash handouts as unrealistic but admit these could win traction with voters who have felt few benefits so far from the nuclear deal.Raisi, a long-serving member of the judiciary who was one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in 1988, gathered the hardline camp behind him after other conservative candidates dropped out of the race.But analysts agreed the gathering of Khamenei's powerful allies behind Raisi seemed to have the unintended effect of energising Rouhani's supporters, uniting opposition and pro-reform figures, artists and activists to back his re-election."This is a polarised election - a race between powerful unelected centres of power and the rest of the country," said analyst Hamid Farahvashian.Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, said Rouhani's warning to the Guards about electoral interference "could be aimed at forcing the establishment to back his second term".

The campaign was replete with caustic televised debates and bruising broadsides. Raisi accused Rouhani of "economic elitism, mismanagement, yielding to Western pressure, and corruption".PUSH FOR REFORM

 Rouhani hit back in a sharper campaign strategy to mobilise Iranian women and young people who became jaded about the vote after losing hope in his ability to ease religious repression in society as promised in 2013, when he won by a landslide.A poll conducted on May 8 by the Iranian Students Polling Agency gave Rouhani 42 percent of the vote and Raisi 27 percent. While opinion polls are unreliable in Iran, the May 8 poll was broadly in line with others held in recent days.While the vote may not have a decisive influence on foreign policy, which is set by Khamenei, the election of a hardliner could harm Iran's global image and further deter foreign trade and investment seen as vital to rebuilding the economy.Although rights campaigners say there have been few, if any, moves to bring about greater freedoms under Rouhani, many young Iranians see Rouhani as the sole choice, even if it is one they are likely to make without real enthusiasm. More than a third of Iran's 80 million population is under age 30 and yearns for reform. Women comprise more than half the population and have lesser rights than men in areas including inheritance, divorce and child custody.Polls open at 0330 GMT and close at 1330 GMT, although authorities often extend voting hours into the evening. Some 300,000 security forces were deployed around the country to safeguard the security of the election. (Editing by Mark Heinrich)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.</s>Millions of Iranians joined long queues to vote on Friday, an early sign of strong turnout in an unexpectedly tight presidential election that could determine the future of the country’s nascent emergence from international isolation.

The presidential vote pits incumbent Hassan Rouhani, who wants to normalize ties with the West, against a hardline judge who says Rouhani has gone too far and sold out the values of Iran’s Islamic revolution to its enemies.

Rouhani, who struck a deal with world powers two years ago to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of most economic sanctions, said the election was important “for Iran’s future role in the region and the world.”

“Whoever wins the election, we should help him to fulfill this important and serious duty,” state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying after voting.

Rouhani, 68, who swept into office four years ago promising to open Iran to the world and give its citizens more freedom at home, faces an unexpectedly strong challenge from Ebrahim Raisi, a protege of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Raisi has blamed Rouhani for mismanaging the economy and has traveled to poor areas holding rallies, pledging more welfare benefits and jobs.

He is believed to have the backing of the powerful Revolutionary Guards security force, as well as the tacit support of Khamenei, whose powers outrank those of the elected president but who normally steers clear of day-to-day politics.

“I respect the outcome of the vote of the people and the result will be respected by me and all the people,” Raisi said after voting, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

In the last election, Rouhani won more than three times as many votes as his closest challenger. But this time the outcome promises to be much closer, as other conservative rivals have backed out and thrown their support behind Raisi.

The Guards and other hardliners hope that a win for Raisi, 56, will give them an opportunity to safeguard economic and political power they see as jeopardized by the lifting of sanctions and opening to foreign investment.

During weeks of campaigning the two main candidates exchanged accusations of graft and brutality in unprecedentedly hostile television debates. Both deny the other’s accusations.

Some 350,000 members of the security forces were deployed around the country to protect the election, state television reported. The interior ministry said at mid-day that it had no reports of electoral offenses so far, state television reported.

Rouhani has urged the Guards not to meddle in the vote, a warning that reflects the political tension. Suspicions that the Guards and the Basij militia under their control falsified voting results in favor of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009, which were violently suppressed.

For ordinary Iranians, the election presents a stark choice between competing visions of the country.

Rouhani, known for decades as a mild-mannered establishment insider rather than a gung-ho reformer, has taken on the mantle of the reform camp in recent weeks, with fiery campaign speeches that attacked the human rights records of his opponents.

Many pro-reform voters are still lukewarm Rouhani supporters, disappointed with the slow pace of change during his first term. But they are anxious to keep out Raisi, who they see as representing the security state at its most fearsome: in the 1980s he was one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death.

“I am on my way to vote for Rouhani. I like his detente policy with the world. I know he is not a reformist, but who cares? What matters is that he is not Raisi,” government employee Yousef Ghaemi, 43, said by phone in the western city of Kermanshah.

For conservatives, the election represents a chance to restore the values of the 1979 revolution, which requires elected officials to be subordinate to the Shi’ite Muslim clergy and supreme leader.

“I cast my vote already - I voted for Raisi because he is a follower of Imam Khamenei. He will not confront the leader if elected. He will protect our Islamic identity,” said Mehran Fardoust, 36, a shop keeper near the Imam Reza Shrine in the holy city of Mashhad, Raisi’s home town.

In public, Khamenei has remained neutral, repeatedly calling for a high turnout. But Iranians in both political camps suspect he is in fact backing his protege Raisi -- not only for the presidency but potentially also as a possible successor to his own post of supreme leader, which the 77-year-old hardline cleric has held since 1989.

Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions that target Iran’s record on human rights and terrorism have kept foreign companies wary of investing in Iran, limiting the economic benefits so far.

Raisi has focused his campaign on the economy, visiting rural areas and villages and promising housing, jobs and more welfare benefits, a message which could resonate with millions of poor voters angry at the Tehran elite.

Two other conservative candidates are still officially in the race. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two, presumably Rouhani and Raisi, would face each other a second time in a run-off in a week.

Polls close at 6 p.m. (1330 GMT), although authorities often extend voting into the evening. Ballot counting will start at midnight and final results are expected within 24 hours of polls closing, TV reported. The elections are also for city and village councils.</s>TEHRAN -- Inside a massive mosque Tuesday evening, more than 15,000 conservative Iranians chanted a mocking farewell to Iran's reformist president.

"Bye bye, Rouhani," roared the crowd. "At the end of the week, Rouhani is gone."

Supporters of hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi have rising hopes he will unseat incumbent President Hassan Rouhani in Friday's election, now that Raisi's chief conservative rival, Tehran mayor Mohammad Ghalibaf, has dropped out and thrown his support to Raisi.

At Tuesday's rally for Raisi, the last before what is expected to be a tight election, the packed crowd erupted when Ghalibaf joined Raisi onstage and the two men clasped hands and held them high. Turnout was so heavy that the overflow could only watch the moment on a huge screen outside.

It's fair to assume that Raisi will collect most of the votes that were going to go to Ghalibaf, bringing him closer to victory. But other minor candidates are dropping out and throwing their support to Rouhani.

Four years ago, Rouhani managed to unite disparate factions and win his first term as president. A centrist and reformer, he tallied more than 50 percent in the first round in 2013 against five other candidates, meaning no run off was needed. His administration negotiated a 2015 nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers that eased sanctions that had thwarted the economy.

Related: Rouhani: I Won't Allow Trump To 'Tear Up' Nuclear Deal

But this time, with the economy still stagnant, polls show Rouhani struggling to reach 50 percent.

At rallies and during televised debates over the past few weeks, Rouhani, Raisi, and Ghalibaf, before he dropped out, traded bitter barbs. Both Raisi and Ghalibaf have accused Rouhani of not delivering on the promises he made when his administration signed the nuclear deal with the U.S. and other major powers. The majority of Iranians, they argue, have not felt the economic benefits Rouhani promised, likening the deal to a check that cannot be cashed.

For his part, Rouhani has gone on the offensive as his numbers have slipped, trying to appeal to the large youthful vote, attacking hardliners for not giving people social freedoms, for isolating Iran and putting it on a trajectory towards war.

Rouhani has alleged that the Revolutionary Guard, which supports Raisi, has deliberately tried to undermine the nuclear deal. The Iranian president cited recent testing of ballistic missiles with incendiary anti-Israeli slogans emblazoned on them. Rouhani also has claimed that if the hardliners get back into power the country will have a suffocating security atmosphere.

At a rally Monday, Rouhani told his supporters, "If you vote for me in large numbers I will go and kiss the Supreme Leader's hands 10 times if necessary in order to free political prisoners."

Rouhani was saying he would kiss Ayatollah Ali Khamanei's hands in order to free Mir Hossain Mousavi, the reformist candidate who lost the disputed 2009 election. Allegations that the election was rigged in favor of then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted protests that turned violent and led to a crackdown by the hardline government. Ever since, Mousavi has been under house arrest and banned from politics.

While Raisi supporters chant goodbye to Rouhani, Rouhani's supporters have invoked Mousavi. At several recent rallies, they have burst into cheers of "Ya Hossein, Ya Hossein," in support of Mousavi, and in what could be seen as defiance of the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard.

Many at a Rouhani rally last week, where the crowd skewed young and cosmopolitan, said they were there to take a stand. Nineteen-year-old journalism student Layla Daryafarghi was 11 during the 2009 crackdown. She said she came to the Rouhani rally because she wants to speak out for freedom and also to support Mousavi, and to support Mohammad Khatami, the reformer who was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005.

"We all want to show that we want to have freedom. We want to say to all the world, we love our country and we want it to be free," said Daryafarghi. "For me it's for Mr. Khatami and for Mr. Mousavi, but I think that all of [us] think [Rouhani] is going to do something different. Four years was not enough for the things he said he wanted to do. He wants more time to show us he can do anything."

At Raisi's rallies, the crowd is older and less upscale. Raisi, a prominent cleric who has the backing of many religious leaders, has made security and trust in government key issues. That appeals to Maryam Jamali, a supporter at a Raisi rally last week. Draped in a black chador, the full-length dress favored by observant women, Jamali said that Raisi is the only candidate who can confront the corruption that has spread through the country, that he is an honest man.

Sobhan Shakeri, a 24-year-old Hezbollah supporter studying to be a cleric, said he had come to the rally because Raisi "follows in the footsteps" of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hezbollah.

"Whoever listens to the leader and obeys him has the support of us, the Hezbollah. Anyone who does not obey him we will turn our backs on them."

Others at the rally said they supported Raisi because he "follows the line" of the theocratic Iranian Revolution, and because he cares for the poorer segments of society that they feel have been forgotten under Rouhani.

Without official polls, it is hard to make predictions in Iranian elections, but from information available via social media and state media, experts here believe it will be a close race.

Before Ghalibaf dropped out, Foad Izadi, an associate professor of American studies at the University of Tehran, said the election was likely to go to a run-off because Rouhani was probably "well below" 50 percent. Izadi said he was using unofficial, unpublished numbers collected by a colleague at the university.

Said Izadi last week, "The polls show him at about 36 or 37 percent. There are about 18 percent undecided, but they will not all go to him. That type of number just a week before an election doesn't look very good for a first round win."

Izadi also noted, however, that "traditionally, historically, we have two-term presidents."

Both Raisi and Rouhani have benefited as all the minor candidates have dropped out and the election has become a two-man race down the final stretch.

Rouhani may have received a boost from the third and last debate of the presidential campaign last Friday. He attacked hardliners, and many observers felt he outperformed his rivals.

Iranian observers think the smart money is still on Rouhani. But he also has to best another opponent in Friday's balloting: low turnout. In Iran, higher turnout favors moderates and reformers.</s>Iranians vote on Friday in a bitter presidential contest between pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani and hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi that could determine the pace of economic and social reform and Iran’s re-engagement with the world.

In a warning reflecting rising political tensions amid signs of an unexpectedly close race, Rouhani urged Iran’s powerful elite Revolutionary Guards, believed to support Raisi, not to meddle in the election.

Suspicions that the Guards and the Basij militia under their control falsified voting results in favour of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds arrested, human rights groups say, in the worst unrest to hit the Islamic Republic.

Raisi, 56, and Rouhani, 68, traded charges of graft and brutality on live television with an open vehemence unseen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Both deny the other’s accusations.

“From the Revolutionary Guards to Friday prayer leaders, the hardline, unelected part of the establishment backs Raisi,” a senior former Iranian official told Reuters.

“But it is a risky decision. It might cause protests similar to those in 2009, as different walks of the society, desiring evolution inside the establishment, have united against Raisi.”

The Guards hope that a win for Raisi will give them an opportunity to claw back economic and political power lost in Shi’ite Iran’s complex theocratic and republican governing structure since 2015, when Iran struck a nuclear deal with world powers that brought it out of international isolation.

Although Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 77, is guarded about his political preferences, he appears to back Raisi both as a presidential candidate and possible successor.

But in an apparent reference to the 2009 disturbances, Khamenei, an unelected clerical hardliner who has the ultimate say in Iran, has previously warned he would confront anyone trying to interfere in the election.

Rouhani, who championed the deal to lift most sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its disputed nuclear programme, is a staunch supporter of engagement with the West and liberal reforms to the economy, now dominated by state institutions.

He also says a hardline victory could put Iran back on a more confrontational, economically damaging course with the West, and would prevent the opening of society that a majority of Iranians, especially the youth, yearn to see.

But hardline rivals hammered Rouhani over his failure to boost an economy weakened by decades of sanctions, even after most were rescinded following the nuclear agreement.

Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral US sanctions that target Iran’s record on human rights and terrorism have kept many foreign companies wary of putting stakes in the Iranian market.

A protégé of Khamenei, Raisi focused his campaign on the economy, visiting rural areas and villages, promising housing, jobs and more welfare benefits for the poor.

Analysts have rejected Raisi’s promises of jobs and cash handouts as unrealistic but admit these could win traction with voters who have felt few benefits so far from the nuclear deal.

Raisi, a long-serving member of the judiciary who was one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in 1988, gathered the hardline camp behind him after other conservative candidates dropped out of the race.

But analysts agreed the gathering of Khamenei’s powerful allies behind Raisi seemed to have the unintended effect of energising Rouhani’s supporters, uniting opposition and pro-reform figures, artists and activists to back his re-election.

“This is a polarised election – a race between powerful unelected centres of power and the rest of the country,” said analyst Hamid Farahvashian.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, said Rouhani’s warning to the Guards about electoral interference “could be aimed at forcing the establishment to back his second term”.

The campaign was replete with caustic televised debates and bruising broadsides. Raisi accused Rouhani of “economic elitism, mismanagement, yielding to Western pressure, and corruption”.

Rouhani hit back in a sharper campaign strategy to mobilise Iranian women and young people who became jaded about the vote after losing hope in his ability to ease religious repression in society as promised in 2013, when he won by a landslide.

A poll conducted on May 8 by the Iranian Students Polling Agency gave Rouhani 42 percent of the vote and Raisi 27 percent. While opinion polls are unreliable in Iran, the 8 May poll was broadly in line with others held in recent days.

While the vote may not have a decisive influence on foreign policy, which is set by Khamenei, the election of a hardliner could harm Iran’s global image and further deter foreign trade and investment seen as vital to rebuilding the economy.

Although rights campaigners say there have been few, if any, moves to bring about greater freedoms under Rouhani, many young Iranians see Rouhani as the sole choice, even if it is one they are likely to make without real enthusiasm.

More than a third of Iran’s 80 million population is under age 30 and yearns for reform. Women comprise more than half the population and have lesser rights than men in areas including inheritance, divorce and child custody.

Polls open at 0330 GMT and close at 1330 GMT, although authorities often extend voting hours into the evening.

Some 300,000 security forces were deployed around the country to safeguard the security of the election.</s>TEHRAN - Polling was extended in Iran on Friday as voters flocked to deliver their verdict on President Hassan Rouhani and his troubled efforts to rebuild ties with the world and kickstart the struggling economy.

Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric who spearheaded a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, has framed the vote as a choice between greater civil liberties and "extremism".

But he faces stiff competition from hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, 56, who has positioned himself as a defender of the poor and called for a much tougher line with the West.

With long queues still seen at polling stations, authorities extended the vote into the late evening, with reformist backers of the president urging voters to keep waiting or find quieter stations.

"The enthusiastic participation of Iranians in the election reinforces our national power and security," said Rouhani as he cast his vote in Tehran.

By 2000 (1530 GMT), local agencies reported 30 million - more than half of registered voters - had cast their ballot. But Raisi's campaign was already complaining about the conduct of the election even before polls closed, saying there had been hundreds of "propaganda actions" by Rouhani supporters at voting booths, which are banned under election laws.

Raisi has targeted working-class voters hit by high unemployment and austerity measures, as well as those who worry that the values of the 1979 revolution are under threat. "His main focus is deprived people and he wants to fight corruption," said Mohsen, a 32-year-old Raisi supporter.

"Our country is surrounded by enemies -- if we don't strengthen our domestic situation, we will be harmed."

Rouhani's central achievement was a deal with six powers led by the United States that eased crippling economic sanctions in exchange for curbs to Iran's nuclear programme -- efforts which he said must be protected from hardliners. "One wrong decision by the president can mean war," he warned this week.

His opponent says he will stick by the nuclear deal, but points to a persistent economic slump as evidence Rouhani's diplomatic efforts have failed.

"Instead of using the capable hands of our young people to resolve problems, they are putting our economy in the hands of foreigners," Raisi said at a closing campaign rally in second city Mashhad.

Rouhani gained a reprieve on Wednesday when Washington agreed to continue waiving nuclear-related sanctions, keeping the deal on track for now.

But US President Donald Trump has launched a 90-day review of the accord that could see it abandoned, and is visiting Iran's bitter regional rival Saudi Arabia this weekend.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voted at his compound just minutes after polls opened, saying: "The destiny of the country is in the hands of Iranians." Reformists and many celebrities in the nation of 80 million have backed Rouhani.

Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi, a vocal Rouhani supporter, voted in Cannes, France where he was attending the film festival. "I want social justice, social freedoms and political development, and good relations with all countries in the world," said Rouhani supporter Nasim, a 37-year-old university lecturer.

Despite the global implications, it is the economy that has dominated the campaign.

Rouhani has brought inflation down from around 40 percent when he took office in 2013, but prices are still rising by nine percent a year.

Oil sales have rebounded since the nuclear deal took effect in January last year, but growth in the rest of the economy has been limited, leaving unemployment at 12.5 percent overall, and at almost 30 percent for young people.

Still, many appear willing to give his policies time to bear fruit, and hope Rouhani can lift the remaining US sanctions that are stifling trade.

"I've almost lost my entire business in recent years. Our small importers can't afford to bypass sanctions and it's illegal," said first-time voter Amir Fathollahzadeh, 51.

"I'm voting for Rouhani to try to save my dignity."

Meanwhile, Raisi has promised to triple cash handouts to the poor, hoping to pick up voters who once supported Rouhani's populist predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"Unfortunately in recent years the dialogue of revolution has been weakened. People should restore the revolution's path," said Raisi supporter Mahanz Rafii, 50, a theology professor wearing her head-to-toe chador robes.

Having proved too independent for the conservative establishment, Ahmadinejad was dramatically barred from standing by the Guardian Council last month as it disqualified all but six of the 1,636 hopefuls who registered.

The presidential race has since narrowed to a two-horse race as other candidates either pulled out or backed Rouhani or Raisi. Iranians are also voting for local councils, with reformists hoping to overturn the conservatives' narrow majority in the capital.</s>TEHRAN -- Inside a massive mosque Tuesday evening, more than 15,000 conservative Iranians chanted a mocking farewell to Iran's reformist president.

"Bye bye, Rouhani," roared the crowd. "At the end of the week, Rouhani is gone."

Supporters of hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi have rising hopes he will unseat incumbent President Hassan Rouhani in Friday's election, now that Raisi's chief conservative rival, Tehran mayor Mohammad Ghalibaf, has dropped out and thrown his support to Raisi.

At Tuesday's rally for Raisi, the last before what is expected to be a tight election, the packed crowd erupted when Ghalibaf joined Raisi onstage and the two men clasped hands and held them high. Turnout was so heavy that the overflow could only watch the moment on a huge screen outside.

It's fair to assume that Raisi will collect most of the votes that were going to go to Ghalibaf, bringing him closer to victory. But other minor candidates are dropping out and throwing their support to Rouhani.

Four years ago, Rouhani managed to unite disparate factions and win his first term as president. A centrist and reformer, he tallied more than 50 percent in the first round in 2013 against five other candidates, meaning no run off was needed. His administration negotiated a 2015 nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers that eased sanctions that had thwarted the economy.

Related: Rouhani: I Won't Allow Trump To 'Tear Up' Nuclear Deal

But this time, with the economy still stagnant, polls show Rouhani struggling to reach 50 percent.

At rallies and during televised debates over the past few weeks, Rouhani, Raisi, and Ghalibaf, before he dropped out, traded bitter barbs. Both Raisi and Ghalibaf have accused Rouhani of not delivering on the promises he made when his administration signed the nuclear deal with the U.S. and other major powers. The majority of Iranians, they argue, have not felt the economic benefits Rouhani promised, likening the deal to a check that cannot be cashed.

For his part, Rouhani has gone on the offensive as his numbers have slipped, trying to appeal to the large youthful vote, attacking hardliners for not giving people social freedoms, for isolating Iran and putting it on a trajectory towards war.

Rouhani has alleged that the Revolutionary Guard, which supports Raisi, has deliberately tried to undermine the nuclear deal. The Iranian president cited recent testing of ballistic missiles with incendiary anti-Israeli slogans emblazoned on them. Rouhani also has claimed that if the hardliners get back into power the country will have a suffocating security atmosphere.

At a rally Monday, Rouhani told his supporters, "If you vote for me in large numbers I will go and kiss the Supreme Leader's hands 10 times if necessary in order to free political prisoners."

Rouhani was saying he would kiss Ayatollah Ali Khamanei's hands in order to free Mir Hossain Mousavi, the reformist candidate who lost the disputed 2009 election. Allegations that the election was rigged in favor of then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted protests that turned violent and led to a crackdown by the hardline government. Ever since, Mousavi has been under house arrest and banned from politics.

While Raisi supporters chant goodbye to Rouhani, Rouhani's supporters have invoked Mousavi. At several recent rallies, they have burst into cheers of "Ya Hossein, Ya Hossein," in support of Mousavi, and in what could be seen as defiance of the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard.

Many at a Rouhani rally last week, where the crowd skewed young and cosmopolitan, said they were there to take a stand. Nineteen-year-old journalism student Layla Daryafarghi was 11 during the 2009 crackdown. She said she came to the Rouhani rally because she wants to speak out for freedom and also to support Mousavi, and to support Mohammad Khatami, the reformer who was president of Iran from 1997 to 2005.

"We all want to show that we want to have freedom. We want to say to all the world, we love our country and we want it to be free," said Daryafarghi. "For me it's for Mr. Khatami and for Mr. Mousavi, but I think that all of [us] think [Rouhani] is going to do something different. Four years was not enough for the things he said he wanted to do. He wants more time to show us he can do anything."

At Raisi's rallies, the crowd is older and less upscale. Raisi, a prominent cleric who has the backing of many religious leaders, has made security and trust in government key issues. That appeals to Maryam Jamali, a supporter at a Raisi rally last week. Draped in a black chador, the full-length dress favored by observant women, Jamali said that Raisi is the only candidate who can confront the corruption that has spread through the country, that he is an honest man.

Sobhan Shakeri, a 24-year-old Hezbollah supporter studying to be a cleric, said he had come to the rally because Raisi "follows in the footsteps" of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hezbollah.

"Whoever listens to the leader and obeys him has the support of us, the Hezbollah. Anyone who does not obey him we will turn our backs on them."

Others at the rally said they supported Raisi because he "follows the line" of the theocratic Iranian Revolution, and because he cares for the poorer segments of society that they feel have been forgotten under Rouhani.

Without official polls, it is hard to make predictions in Iranian elections, but from information available via social media and state media, experts here believe it will be a close race.

Before Ghalibaf dropped out, Foad Izadi, an associate professor of American studies at the University of Tehran, said the election was likely to go to a run-off because Rouhani was probably "well below" 50 percent. Izadi said he was using unofficial, unpublished numbers collected by a colleague at the university.

Said Izadi last week, "The polls show him at about 36 or 37 percent. There are about 18 percent undecided, but they will not all go to him. That type of number just a week before an election doesn't look very good for a first round win."

Izadi also noted, however, that "traditionally, historically, we have two-term presidents."

Both Raisi and Rouhani have benefited as all the minor candidates have dropped out and the election has become a two-man race down the final stretch.

Rouhani may have received a boost from the third and last debate of the presidential campaign last Friday. He attacked hardliners, and many observers felt he outperformed his rivals.

Iranian observers think the smart money is still on Rouhani. But he also has to best another opponent in Friday's balloting: low turnout. In Iran, higher turnout favors moderates and reformers.
Official campaigning ends with opinion polling showing Hassan Rouhani and Ebrahim Raisi as the two leading candidates.