Rouhani leads in Iran's presidential election - preliminary results

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is on track for re-election, initial results suggest.

Some 40 million people turned out to vote, or around 70 percent of the electorate.

In results announced after 26 million ballots had been counted, Rouhani appeared set for a second term, with around 56 percent of the vote.

The campaign was hard-fought, but it wasn’t reflected in the preliminary tally.

Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister, Ali Asghar Ahmadi, announced the incumbent leader was over four million votes ahead of his closest challenger, Ebrahim Raisi.

The hardliner accuses Rouhani of mismanaging the economy and of selling out the values of Iran’s Islamic revolution to its enemies.

Rouhani, a moderate, struck a deal with world powers to curb the country’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

The winning candidate needs to gain more than 50 percent of the vote, to avoid a run-off between the top two in a week’s time.