Reformer leads early in Iranian voting

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's reformist-backed presidential candidate surged to a wide lead in early vote counting today, a top official said, suggesting a flurry of late support could have swayed a race that once appeared solidly in the hands of Tehran's ruling clerics.

The strong margin for former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani may be enough to give him an outright victory and avoid a two-person runoff next Friday.

Rowhani had 52 percent of the more than 5 million votes tallied, said Iran's interior minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, well ahead of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, with about 17.3 percent.

Hard-line nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was slightly behind in third.

It was unclear when the final count would be known. Iran has more than 50 million eligible voters.

Election officials began the ballot count after voters waited on line for hours in wilting heat at some polling stations in downtown Tehran and other cities, while others cast ballots across the vast country. Voting was extended by five hours to meet demand, but also as possible political stagecraft to showcase the participation.

The apparent strong turnout -- estimated at 75 percent by the hard-line newspaper Kayhan -- suggested that liberals and others abandoned a planned boycott as the election was transformed into a showdown across the Islamic Republic's political divide.

On one side were hard-liners looking to cement their control behind candidates such as Jalili, who said 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.