Hardliner set to win Iran polls

Iranians voted yesterday in an election expected to hand the presidency to a hardline judge subject to US sanctions, though many are likely to ignore the ballot amid economic hardship and calls for a boycott by critics at home and abroad. Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, 60, is the favourite to succeed Hassan Rouhani. A close Khamenei ally and like him a harsh critic of the West, Raisi is under US sanctions for alleged involvement in executions of political prisoners decades ago.