Iran holds runoff presidential vote pitting hard-liner against reformist after record low turnout

Iran has held a runoff presidential election, pitting a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist lawmaker. Both men had earlier struggled to convince a skeptical public to cast ballots in the first round of voting that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Government officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted a higher participation as voting got underway on Friday. State television aired images of modest lines at some polling centers across the country. But online videos purported to show some polling stations empty while a survey of several dozen sites in the Iranian capital of Tehran saw light traffic amid a heavy security presence on the streets.