World Media Surprised by Large Public Turnout in Iran Presidential Election 2017

China’s official press agency, Xinhua News Agency, published an article just moments after Iran’s presidential election got under way, saying that the voting process began on Friday morning at 8:00 am local time (0330 GMT) as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his vote in the ballot box.

Armenia’s national news agency, ArmenPress, said that the turnout has been “active” in the polling station opened at the Iranian embassy in Yerevan. It also quoted the Iranian authorities as saying that the polling station opened at 8:00 and will be closed at 18:00, “and if necessary the closing time will be extended”.

Agence France Presse pointed to the huge turnout in the electon and wrote in the leading paragraph of one of the agency’s widely-quoted reports on the Friday’s vote that the ‘Iranians poured into polling stations to deliver their verdict on President Hassan Rouhani and his troubled efforts to … “kickstart the struggling economy”.

There was a festive atmosphere in Tehran where Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric who spearheaded a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, was mobbed by cheering supporters as he cast his ballot in a mosque in the city center, AFP pointed out.

“The enthusiastic participation of Iranians in the election reinforces our national power and security,” the news agency qouted Rouhani as saying, as polling stations reported queues were far bigger than in last year’s parliamentary election.

The South Asian Times, which introduces itself as the online publication for the Indian and South Asian communities globally, published a report on the presidential election in Iran, saying the voting began on Friday morning as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his vote in the ballot box.

The news outlet also referred to the supreme leader’s remarks right after casting his vote, noting that the Iranian Supreme leader urged the Iranians to go to the polling stations for the vote at the earliest time.

Herald Tribune said, “Iranians voted in the country’s first presidential election since its nuclear deal with world powers,” as incumbent Hassan Rouhani faced a staunch challenge from an opponent over his outreach to the West.

The Tribune said Economic issues will be on the minds of Iran’s over 56 million eligible voters as they head to more than 63,000 polling places across the country, as the average Iranian has yet to see the benefits of the deal, which saw Iran limit its contested nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions.

Euro News also referred to the election as a closely-contested race, saying that ‘after a hard-fought campaign, the day has arrived for Iranians to choose their next president’.

Australia’s ABC News also said in an article on the Iranian presidential election that economy will play an enormous role in the outcome of today’s vote.

President Hassan Rouhani faces a stiff challenge from the rivals, who are hoping to capitalize on economic disappointments by ordinary Iranians, it pointed out.

New Zealand Herald, in an article that appeared on the news outlet’s website on Friday, referred to economic issues among defining factors in the outcome of the Iranian election