Iran Opens Polls for Presidential Election

Iran opened polls on Friday for its 14th presidential election, necessitated by President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash last month. 

Saeed Jalili, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who represent the fundamentalist faction, are among the candidates, while Masoud Pezeshkian is the sole reformist contender.

Two candidates, Amirhossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Alireza Zakani, withdrew to consolidate the fundamentalist support. 

Despite expectations, neither Ghalibaf nor Jalili stepped down in favor of the other.

The Ministry of Interior confirmed that all Iranian citizens aged 18 and above are eligible to vote using their birth certificate or national card. 

Approximately 61 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the election.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cast his ballot early, urging high voter turnout. "Election day is a day of joy and happiness for us Iranians," he said. 

"We encourage our dear people to take the issue of voting seriously and participate," he added.

Polls opened at 8:00 am (0430 GMT) in 58,640 stations, set up mostly in schools and mosques nationwide.

Polling stations will be open for 10 hours, though authorities could extend voting time as in previous elections.

Early projections of the results are expected by Saturday morning, with official results by Sunday. If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, a second round will be held on July 5.