Iran's Hassan Rouhani sweeps to second term

Tehran: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani won a resounding re-election victory on Saturday as voters overwhelmingly backed his efforts to reach out to the world and rebuild the struggling economy.

Mr Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric who spearheaded a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, took 23.5 million votes — 57 per cent — compared to 15.8 million — 38.3 per cent — for hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi.

But Iran’s efforts to open up to the world face a stark challenge from US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to tear up the nuclear deal and is currently visiting its bitter regional rival Saudi Arabia.

Iranians nonetheless flocked to the polls, with turnout hitting 73 per cent. Election organisers were forced to extend polling by several hours on Friday, as they struggled to adapt to a population explosion that has added 20 million names to the voting rolls in the past two decades.

“Already last night we had the feeling we were heading for a landslide, and it came true,” said Farid Dehdilani, an adviser for the Iranian Privatisation Organisation, who worked on Mr Rouhani’s campaign.

“Our people reaffirmed their confidence in President Rouhani and their support for engagement with the world,” he added.

Mr Raisi, 56, had positioned himself as a defender of the poor and called for a much tougher line with the West.

But his revolutionary rhetoric and efforts to win over working class voters with promises of incr-eased handouts gained limited traction.

“Rouhani’s vote, particularly in rural areas, shows that Iranian people no longer believe in economic populism and radical change,” said Ali Vaez, Iran analyst for the International Crisis Group, a think tank.

“They have the maturity to understand that the solution to their country’s predicaments are in competent management of the economy and moderation in international relations,” Vaez said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a staunch ally of Iran in the Syrian conflict on the side of the Damascus regime, was among the first leaders to congratulate Rouhani.

The Kremlin said Putin sent a telegram confirming “his readiness to continue active joint work... in line with maintaining stability and security in the Middle East and the world as a whole.”

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also tweeted her congratulations and vowed to work for greater “engagement, regional peace... (and the) expectations of people in Iran.”

Both Russia and the European Union are eager to safeguard the 2015 deal which they signed alongside the United States, easing sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs to its nuclear programme.