Iran Ultraconservative Named Presidential Election Winner

Millions of Iranians voted on Friday in a contest that has been expected to hand the presidency to Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline judge who is subject to U.S. sanctions.

Congratulations poured in for Iranian ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday for winning presidential elections even before official results were announced. Iran's outgoing moderate President Hassan Rouhani said his successor had been elected in the previous day's vote, without naming the widely expected winner, Raisi. "I congratulate the people on their choice," said Rouhani. "My official congratulations will come later, but we know who got enough votes in this election and who is elected today by the people." The other two ultraconservative candidates -- Mohsen Rezai and Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi -- explicitly congratulated Raisi.