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Iran's interior minister said President Hassan Rohani -- seen casting his ballot on May 19 -- won reelection with around 57 percent of the vote, easily avoiding a runoff.
Iran's interior minister said President Hassan Rohani -- seen casting his ballot on May 19 -- won reelection with around 57 percent of the vote, easily avoiding a runoff.

Live Blog: Rohani Declared Winner Of Iran Vote

Updated

-- Iranian officials have declared President Hassan Rohani winner of the May 19 vote with around 57 percent of ballots, easily avoiding a runoff against conservative former prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi, who was said to have received about 38.5 percent of votes cast.

-- In a victory speech, Rohani said the Iranian people were the "real victors" of the election and that Iran had chosen "engagement with the world" in voting for him, rejecting extremism. But as Rohani knows very well, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds ultimate political, military, and religious power in Iran, and can easily derail a campaign or thwart the plans of a president.

-- Six men were approved to run by the Guardians Council from more than 1,600 applicants, but it quickly boiled down to a two-man race between Raisi and Rohani, an establishment veteran who oversaw a breakthrough nuclear deal with world powers to ease sanctions and pushed for engagement with the West and greater openness for Iranians.

-- Raisi has long been talked about as a possible successor to Khamenei, and it's unclear what effect a landslide loss might have on his political ambitions.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Tehran (GMT +4 1/2)

09:51 20.5.2017

Here is the video of the official announcement:

09:54 20.5.2017

A reaction from inside the country:

09:55 20.5.2017

A reaction from outside the country:

10:12 20.5.2017

Ebrahim Raisi's first post on Instagram following the announcement of the election results:

10:30 20.5.2017

People are already celebrating in Tehran's bazaar:

10:53 20.5.2017

Iran daily staff are celebrating Rohani's reelection by chanting the name of opposition figure Mir Hossein Musavi who's been under house arrest since 2011. Many of Rohani's supporters have been calling for the release of Musavi, his wife Zahra Rahnavard and reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi. The trio are believed to have voted for Rohani.

11:05 20.5.2017

Reaction by Javier Solana, a former EU Foreign Policy Chief, former Secretary General of NATO and former foreign minister of Spain:

11:11 20.5.2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated President Rohani on his reelection.

Russia launched its most significant military venture outside the former Soviet Union when it launched an air bombardment campaign in Syria in September 2015 to help longtime Tehran ally Bashar al-Assad cling to power in Damascus.

11:22 20.5.2017

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated Iranian people on the high turnout.

11:24 20.5.2017

Some thoughts from Iran analyst Suzanne Maloney:

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