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Hard-liner Raisi wins Iran presidency amid record low turnout

Ebrahim Raisi's win came as little surprise amid widespread voter apathy, in a race already tilted to his favor by a powerful supervisory body.
Iranian ultraconservative cleric and presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi gives a news conference after voting in the presidential election, at a polling station in the capital Tehran, on June 18, 2021.

With all the votes counted following Friday's presidential election in Iran, ultraconservative cleric and judiciary chief Ibrahim Raisi emerged as the winner by an absolute landslide in the contentious race marred by boycotts and apathy. With the final official results out, the turnout stood at 48%, the lowest ever in a presidential election in the 42-year history of the Islamic Republic.

Even as vote counting was still underway, Raisi's three rivals all conceded defeat, sending him congratulatory messages

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