Iran votes in presidential poll tipped in hard-liner's favor

Iran has begun voting in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran Elections (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Iran began voting Friday in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time for the vote, which has seen widespread public apathy after a panel under Khamenei barred hundreds of candidates, including reformists and those aligned with the outgoing president, the relatively moderate Hassan Rouhani

State-linked opinion polling and analysts have put hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi as the dominant front-runner in a field of just four candidates. Former Central Bank chief, Abdolnasser Hemmati, is running as the race's moderate candidate but hasn't inspired the same support as Rouhani, who is term-limited from seeking the office again.

There are more than 59 million eligible voters among Iran's more than 80 million people. However, the state-linked Iranian Student Polling Agency has estimated a turnout of just 42%, which would be the lowest ever since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Khamenei cast the ceremonial first ballot in the election.