Iran election: Hardliner Raisi set to win in first round

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Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi is to be Iran’s next president after a partial vote count gave him an unassailable lead.

He beat three other candidates in a poll in which several contenders were barred from standing.

Mr Raisi is Iran’s top judge and holds ultra-conservative views. He is under US sanctions and has been linked to past executions of political prisoners.

Iran’s president is the second-highest ranking official in the country, after the supreme leader.

The president has significant influence over domestic policy and foreign affairs. But it is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has the final say on all state matters.

Iran’s hardliners oppose greater social freedoms and are suspicious of the West, although some favour of a return to an international deal on Iran’s nuclear activity.

The US pulled out of the deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2018.

President Trump’s administration reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran after withdrawing. The sanctions have contributed to economic hardship for ordinary Iranians, which has caused widespread discontent.

Talks aimed at resurrecting the deal are ongoing in Vienna.

BBC.com

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