Official - Rouhani Wins Iran Presidential Election

Iran's Interior Ministry Sunday announced Hassan Rouhani the winner of the May 19  presidential election. 

Some 41,220,131 of the 56 million eligible Iranian voters cast ballots on Friday, Hassan Rouhani won 23,549,616 or 57% of total votes, said Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli. 

Ebrahim Raisi came second with 15,786,449 (or 38.5%) of the total votes, he added. 

The choice was whether to hand pragmatic Hassan Rouhani a stronger mandate to push through much-needed reforms, or give a chance to principlist Ebrahim Raeisi who believes the incumbent and his aides have mismanaged the economy. 

Rouhani, 68, is a staunch supporter of broader international engagement and liberal economic reforms.

The president faced stiff competition from Raeisi, 57, a long-serving member of the judiciary and current custodian of Astan Qods Razavi, the huge conglomerate in charge of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH), the eighth Shia imam.