Rouhani takes lead in Iran's presidential race

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani fills in his ballot as he votes during the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, May 19, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

TEHRAN - The preliminary vote count shows that Iran's incumbent President Hassan Rouhani is taking the lead in the presidential race so far, an Iranian election official announced in the state IRIB TV live broadcast.

Over 40 million voters participated in the presidential election on Friday, the chief of Iran's Election Bureau, Ali Asghar Ahmadi, said.

With 38,914,470 "correct" ballots counted, Rouhani has bagged 22,796,468 votes and his nearest challenger Ebrahim Raisi has got 15,452,194 votes, Ahmadi said.

Four candidates are vying for the Iranian presidency. Rouhani and Raisi are the main rivals in the race.

Over 56 million people were eligible to participate in the election.

The final results will be announced in the afternoon local time on Saturday, Ahmadi said.