[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won 69 percent of the vote after over five million votes were counted in the presidential election on Friday, Iran's electoral chief said.
He made his comments at a news conference after ballots closed.
In the meantime, moderate former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi claimed victory in the hotly contested vote, while state news agency IRNA said incumbent Ahmadinejad had won.
The conflicting claims came even as crowds of voters were still queuing to cast their ballots long after balloting was officially over at 10:00 p.m. (1730 GMT).
Even as the tail-enders were still voting, Mousavi called a news conference in Tehran to claim victory. "In line with the information we have received, I am the winner of this election by a substantial margin," Mousavi said. He said many people had not been able to cast their ballots even after voting was extended by four hours.
Only minutes earlier, close Mousavi aide Ali Akbar Mohatshemi-Pour told AFP his candidate had won 65 percent of the vote.
IRNA, however, announced that Ahmadinejad had won the election. "Doctor Ahmadinejad, by getting a majority of the votes, has become the definite winner of the 10th presidential election," it said.
The interior ministry said preliminary results were expected around 4:00 a.m. on Saturday (2330 GMT Friday). |