Khatami Casts Vote in Iran's Presidential Election

Iran's incumbent President Mohammad Khatami Friday morning cast his ballot in the country's on-going presidential elections, in which he is seeking a second term, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The report gave no other details about his casting vote as Khatami is among the 10 candidates in the election.

Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Husseini Khamenei was among the first to vote.

Iranian voters aged over 15 began to cast their ballots in polling stations starting from 9:00 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) on Friday. There are some 42 million eligible voters compared with 36. 5 million voters in the 1997 presidential election.

Challenged by nine other rivals from the conservative camp, Khatami, who swept to office with nearly 70 percent of votes in 1997, is likely to win a second term.

The primary results of the polling from the provinces are to be announced on Saturday and the final results are expected on Sunday, the Election Headquarters said.






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