Iranians queued up at the polling stations on Friday morning for presidential, and city and rural council elections.
Iranians queued up at the polling stations on Friday morning for presidential, and city and rural council elections.
Polling stations opened at 08:00 hours Tehran’s time (0330 GMT) on Friday with the polls scheduled to remain open for ten hours.
Iranian news agencies reported that Iranian voters were standing in long queues to cast their ballots in a bid to choose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's successor.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei cast his ballot minutes into the polls.
His eminence said that the Iranian nation is to create yet another epic in the true sense of the word today.
The Leader urged all to take part in the elections, saying that both officials and the nation are grateful to Almighty God for granting them another chance to be part of a move which is to determine the destiny of the country.
Nearly 50.5 million people are eligible to vote, with more than 1.6 million first-time voters.
Over 60,000 polling stations have been set up across the country, while Iranian nationals abroad will also be able to vote at 285 overseas polling stations.
Vote counting will begin at the polling stations immediately after the voting ends. Voting may be extended if the Interior Ministry sees necessary.
Presidential election campaign kicked off in Iran on May 22 after the Guardian Council released the list of 8 qualified candidates, although 6 have remained in the race now. Electioneering ended at 8:00 yesterday.
The qualified candidates represent a wide range of political streams from conservatives to reformists.
There are now 6 candidates left in the race after two of them, Former Majlis Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel and former First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, quitted on Monday.
The six candidates include Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former Iranian Foreign Minister and Supreme Leader's top advisor for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati, Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, former SNSC Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani, former Oil and Telecommunication Minister Seyed Mohammad Qarazi, and former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezayee.
According to presidential election laws, all Iranian nationals above 18 years of age are eligible to vote.
Over 200,000 candidates are also running for city and rural council elections.
For further information about all the Iranian presidential candidates click here.
