[caption id="attachment_24985" align="alignright" width="300"] File photo shows Iranians preparing to cast their ballots in a presidential election.[/caption]
Irans Interior Ministry says the upcoming presidential and city and rural council elections will be held on the scheduled date as planned.
Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar told a meeting of provincial governors on Saturday that the results of the June 14 votes will be announced at the earliest.
The Iranian minister added that certain inspectors have been charged with monitoring the over 67,000 polling stations set up nationwide for the elections.
Mohammad-Najjar also said the ministry would honor the top ten provinces with the highest voter turnout.
On May 28, Mohammad-Najjar` said his ministry is fully prepared for the June elections and has even taken measures for a potential second round in the presidential election.
According to the ministry, nearly 50.5 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, with more than 1.6 million first-time voters.
Lawmaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, Hassan Rohani, the director of the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council, former First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Gharazi, and former Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Velayati are competing against each other.
Iranians will go to the polls in the countrys 11th presidential elections on June 14. The fourth city and rural council elections are also scheduled to be held on the same day.