(VOVworld) – The preliminary results of Iran’s presidential election put the reformist-backed candidate, Hassan Rohani, in the lead.

President candidate Hassan Rohani casts his ballot in Iran’s presidential election in Tehran on Jun 14 (photo: Reuters)

Iran’s interior minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said on Saturday that among 861,000 eligible votes which were counted in 1,631 polling stations, Rohani gained 402,000 votes or 46.6%. The mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, came in second with 14.6% of the votes. The third place was Saeed Jalili, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator. Iran had extended the voting time by 5 hours as the number of voters turned out in huge on Friday. The Interior Ministry estimated that 70% of 50 million voters cast their ballots. The official result is expected to be announced 24 hours after the closure of all polling stations. The national TV station IRIB said the presidential candidates called on their supporters to abide by the law and refrain from celebrating victory before the Interior Ministry announces the official results.