Via Reuters: Rafsanjani narrowly leads Iran poll

Moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani held a narrow lead on Saturday in Iran’s presidential election, but was far short of outright victory, with an unprecedented run-off vote now certain, officials said.

Sources close to the Guardian Council, a watchdog body, said Rafsanjani had taken 21 percent of the 26.64 million votes counted from around 32 million cast in Friday’s poll.

Former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a religious hard-liner, was in second place with 19.7 percent.

If they hold their edge over their nearest rival, reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi, who had 17.8 percent of votes counted, the pair will square off next Friday in a deciding election.

Interesting, since many of the pundits had Rafsanjani and Moin as the likely run-off participants.

So while the following is true, it would matter if a reformist wins v. a hardliner:

Whoever wins, unelected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last word on state affairs and hard-liners hold key levers of power, such as security and the courts.

Turnout was fairly high, according to current estimates:Voter turnout, estimated at 69 percent, was higher than expected, with Iranians having a choice of seven candidates who had survived vetting by the unelected Guardian Council.

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