Millions of voters across Iran have begun to cast their ballots in the country's presidential elections, four years after the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Polling stations opened at 8:00am local time (03:30 GMT) on Friday and close 10 hours later, although if there is a particularly large turnout the interior ministry can extend voting until midnight.
At the same time as choosing a new president from six candidates, voters will also pick municipal councillors.
There are more than 50 million eligible voters, with 130,000 ballot boxes in over 60,000 voting stations. The first results are expected late Friday or early on Saturday.
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"Among those running ... I had someone in mind who I chose. I haven't told anyone [of my vote]," he told state television as he voted.
"Even those close to me like my family and children don't know who I voted for."
Khamenei derided Western misgivings about the credibility of the vote.
"I recently heard that someone at the US National Security Council said 'we do not accept this election in Iran'," he said. "We don't give a damn."
Presidential candidate and moderate Muslim leader Hassan Rouhani has also cast his ballot in Tehran.
"I have come to destroy extremism and when I see that these extremists are worried by my repsense and my vote I am very happy. It means that with the help of the people we can instill the apporpriate Islamis behaviour in the country," he said after voting.
If no candidate secures 50.1 percent or more of the votes to win outright, a second round will be held a week later.
Al Jazeera's Soraya Lennie, reporting from Tehran, said that while the elections have been a little bit more subdued compared to four years ago, people have been arriving quite early and lines are already forming outside the voting stations.
Source:AlJazeera
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