Ebrahim Raisi
Supporters of Iranian president-elect Ebrahim Raisi celebrate after he won the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 19, 2021. Initial results released Saturday propelled Raisi, a protege of the country's supreme leader, into Tehran’s highest civilian position. The vote appeared to see the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Hard-line judiciary head wins Iran presidency in low turnout

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 19, 2021 02:21 AM EDT

A voter casts her ballot for the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 18, 2021. Iranians voted Friday in a presidential election that a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seemed likely to win, leading to low turnout fueled by apathy and calls for a boycott. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In Iran's subdued election, many voters appear to stay home

By Isabel Debre Jun. 18, 2021 02:30 PM EDT

Voters register to cast their vote during the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 18, 2021. Iran began voting Friday in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fueling public apathy and sparking calls for a boycott in the Islamic Republic. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Apathy greets Iran presidential vote dominated by hard-liner

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 17, 2021 11:58 PM EDT

Supporters of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi hold signs during a rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Iran's clerical vetting committee has allowed just seven candidates for the Friday, June 18, ballot, nixing prominent reformists and key allies of President Hassan Rouhani. The presumed front-runner has become Ebrahim Raisi, the country's hard-line judiciary chief who is closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
EXPLAINER: Iran vote to determine next president, direction

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 17, 2021 02:59 AM EDT

Supporters of presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi hold signs during a rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Iran's clerical vetting committee has allowed just seven candidates for the Friday, June 18, ballot, nixing prominent reformists and key allies of President Hassan Rouhani. The presumed front-runner has become Ebrahim Raisi, the country's hard-line judiciary chief who is closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Iran election race narrows but fears persist of low turnout

By Isabel Debre Jun. 16, 2021 09:25 AM EDT

Supporters of Abdolnasser Hemmati, a presidential candidate in the June 18, elections, hold signs with his picture, during a street rally in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Hemmati, a prominent contender in Iran's presidential election appealed Tuesday for better economic and political relations with the West, his most extensive attempt yet to attract reformist voters just days ahead of the poll. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iran presidential candidate urges better ties with West

By Amir Vahdat Jun. 15, 2021 06:14 AM EDT

Masoumeh Eftekhari, six months pregnant and strolling through the shop-lined promenades of Tehran’s jam-packed Grand Bazaar, speaks with The Associated Press about the upcoming presidential elections, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 10, 2021. She pointed with astonishment to the skyrocketing prices of baby clothes. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Many Iranians fear vote will underscore their powerlessness

By Mohammad Nasiri Jun. 14, 2021 02:07 AM EDT

In this Wednesday, June 9, 2021 photo, a supporter of the presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi, currently judiciary chief, hold his posters during a campaign rally at the Takhti Stadium in Ahvaz, Iran. Around 5,000 of people have gathered in a football stadium in southeastern city of Ahvaz to support the Iranian hard-line presidential candidate, Iranian media reported. (Alireza Mohammadi/ISNA via AP)
Iran judiciary chief stages 1st campaign rally despite virus

By Amir Vahdat Jun. 10, 2021 05:38 AM EDT

A vendor prepares tea at the Grand Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Iran's ailing economy is the major concern for those living in the Islamic Republic ahead of the country's presidential election. They face a daily grinding nightmare of high inflation, an ever-weakening national currency and high unemployment exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
As Iran prepares to vote, its battered economy a major worry

By Mehdi Fattahi Jun. 10, 2021 02:08 AM EDT

In this picture made available by Young Journalists Club, YJC, presidential candidates for June 18, elections Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, left, and Saeed Jalili leave at the conclusion of the second TV debates of the candidates in a state-run TV studio, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Iran's seven presidential candidates on Tuesday put all the problems of the Islamic Republic squarely on the shoulders of the one man who wasn't there to defend himself: Outgoing President Hassan Rouhani. (Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/ Young Journalists Club, YJC via AP)
Iran debate puts problems on one man: the outgoing president

By Amir Vahdat Jun. 08, 2021 10:59 AM EDT

FILE— In this Dec. 11, 2006, file photo, top cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, center, speaks during a conference on the Holocaust with Rabbi Moishe Arye Friedman, left, from Austria, and Rabbi Ahron Cohen, right, from England, in Tehran, Iran. Mohtashamipour, a Shiite cleric who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday, June 7, 2021, of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Iran cleric who founded Hezbollah, survived book bomb, dies

By Jon Gambrell Jun. 07, 2021 05:21 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 29, 2017, file photo, Iranian cleric and presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi, center, stands among his supporters, during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran. Raisi, a prominent hard-line cleric who now serves as Iran's judiciary chief, registered Saturday, May 15, 2021, to run in Iran's upcoming presidential election. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
Iran's hard-line judiciary chief registers presidential run

By Jon Gambrell May. 15, 2021 12:49 AM EDT

Revolutionary Guard Gen. Saeed Mohammad, who once headed the paramilitary force's Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, shows his identification document while registering his name as a candidate for the June 18 presidential elections at the elections headquarters of the Interior Ministry in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Iran opened registration Tuesday for potential candidates in the country's June presidential election, kicking off the race as uncertainty looms over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers and tensions remain high with the West. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Registration opens for hopefuls in Iran's presidential vote

By Nasser Karimi And Jon Gambrell May. 11, 2021 12:01 AM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2004 file photo, Iraqis protest in the streets of the southern city of Basra carrying posters of Shiite leaders including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, right, the top cleric of Iraq's Shiite majority. On Saturday, March 6, 2021, Pope Francis will visit the 90-year-old Grand Ayatollah who is revered by many Shiites worldwide and whose words hold powerful influence in Iraq and beyond. The pontiff and ayatollah will meet in al-Sistani’s modest home in the Iraqi city of Najaf. (AP Photo/Nabeel al-Jurani, File)
Intense preparations before pontiff meets Iraqi ayatollah

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra And Samya Kullab Mar. 03, 2021 01:20 AM EST