Iranians voted Friday in their first presidential runoff, which featured the former president and his hard-line rival who says the nation must reclaim the values of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The election was considered too close to predict. Results were expected Saturday. According to the latest official figures, some 46,786,418 people are eligible to vote in the 9th presidential elections.
The first round winner, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, had strong support from progressive and business quarters. His opponent, Tehran's ultraconservative mayor Mahoud Ahmadinejad, was backed by Iran's impoverished classes and powerful forces opposed to relaxing the Islamic regime.
The 70-year-old Rafsanjani became the default choice for reformists after their main candidate finished the first round in the fourth place. Rafsanjani reached to first place with just 21 percent of the vote (6,159,452 votes ). Right behind was Ahmadinejad with about 19.5 percent with 5,710,354 votes.
