Rafsanjani ahead

TEHRAN (Reuter) - President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani took a comfortable early lead in Iran's presidential election, winning more than 63 per cent of the vote, according to partial results announced yesterday. Tehran radio said Mr Rafsanjani won 4.5 million of the first 7.2 million votes counted: 63.4 per cent of the total. In seeking a second four-year term, he looked likely to fall short of his total in 1989 when he received 94.5 per cent of the vote.