Moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and reformist Mostafa Moin are heading to a run-off vote in Iran's presidential election, both camps said on Friday. Aides to the two men told Reuters Rafsanjani and Moin were the top two vote-getters in a field of seven, but neither had gained the 50 percent support needed for outright victory. Official results are expected on Saturday.
"Rafsanjani and Moin are the first two, according to our surveys. They are the ones who will compete in the second round," close Rafsanjani aide Mohammad Atrianfar said.
"My prediction is that Rafsanjani and Moin have got the most votes and I don't think there is a huge gap between them," Mohammad Ali Abtahi, adviser to outgoing reformist President Mohammad Khatami and a strong ally of Moin.
A government official, who asked not to be identified, also said Rafsanjani and Moin would face a run-off vote.
Iran's interior minister, in-charge of organising a poll savaged by the United States as undemocratic, said preliminary results from the count were expected on Saturday morning, but has predicted the race may go into a two-man run-off.
"The competition is very close," Abdolvahed Moussavi-Lari told AFP, as estimates put voter turnout at over 55 percent. That is lower than previous presidential polls but higher than the last year's parliamentary elections.
The election had been painted as a one-horse race for Rafsanjani, who is hoping his image as a business-savvy moderate with clout can woo voters tired of political deadlock, economic stagnation, a nuclear crisis and international isolation.
But he has faced a tough challenge from leftist reformer Mostafa Moin and hard-liner Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. There were also indications that Tehran's ultra-conservative mayor, Mahmood Ahmadinejad, had managed a late charge.
Informal opinion polls - in which the margin for error is extremely wide - have also pointed to a nail-biting second round clash on June 24 or July 1 between Rafsanjani and either Moin or Qalibaf.
But the uncertainty is such that the Interior Ministry officials have not ruled out a first-round victory for any of the main candidates.
Voting earlier with an ear-to-ear grin, outgoing reformist President Mohammad Khatami looked relieved his difficult eight years in office were coming to an end and also said a surprise could be in store.
"The Iranian nation has usually defied predictions," Khatami said.
More than 46 million people, men and women above the age of 15, were eligible to vote.
Voting had been extended by four hours to 11:00 pm (1830 GMT), with the regime encouraging a high turnout to bolster its legitimacy and giving voters 14 hours to carry out what supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described as a "pious act" of support for his 26-year-old oil-rich theocracy.
The regime has been hoping to counter widespread apathy and boycott calls from the students and prominent liberals such as Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi.
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