Iranian football players cast vote in S.Korea

Iranian national football players cast their ballots for the country’s presidential election on Friday after their short football exercise in a South Korean hotel.

The required coordination was made for Iranian football players’ presence in a polling station in Ulsan, South Korean city, ahead of their trip to the country.

Iranian embassy in South Korea has taken the required steps and has sent an observer to monitor the voting process.

The11th Presidential election started across Iran on Friday at 8:00 am local time (3:30 GMT).

People throughout the country are casting their ballots to elect members of city and village councils concurrent with the presidential election today. Voting will last 10 hours and polls close at 6 pm, but voting hours could be extended if necessary. Ballot counting will start at 24:00 tonight and final results will be announced in the next 24 hours after the election.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei cast his ballot as well.

Iranian voters are going to over 66,000 polling stations in 96 countries. Campaigning for the June 14 presidential election kicked off in Iran on May 22 after the Guardian Council released the list of 8 qualified candidates.

The eight qualified candidates represent a wide range of political streams from principlists to reformers.

There are now 6 candidates left in the race after two of them quitted. They include Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, former SNSC Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani, former Oil and Telecommunication Minister Seyed Mohammad Qarazi, former Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezayee.