On one side were hard-liners looking to cement their control behind candidates such as Jalili, who says he is "100 percent" against detente with Iran's foes, or Qalibaf.
Opposing them were reformists and others rallying behind the "purple wave" campaign of Rowhani, the lone relative moderate left in the race.
The Interior Ministry said Rowhani had 6,049,655 million votes from the 12,091,699 counted so far. Qalibaf trailed with than 1,844,463, and Rezaei had 1,518,964 . The other three candidates were further back.
Officials did not say in which parts of the country the ballots were counted. Counts tend to come in first from provincial towns, and Rowhani is thought to be particularly strong in the capital, giving him the prospect of surging further ahead later in the day.
But even if the last-moment surge around Rowhani brings him to the presidency, it would be more of a limited victory than a deep shake-up. Iran's establishment — a tight alliance of the ruling clerics and the ultra-powerful Revolutionary Guard — still holds all the effective power and sets the agenda on all major decisions such as Iran's nuclear program and its dealings with the West.
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