Iranian hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi wins presidency amid nuclear talks

A hard-line Iranian judge opposed to the country’s outreach to the West won Iran’s presidential election, consolidating conservative control over the country’s politics, as Tehran attempts to revive an international nuclear accord that would free the country of some U.S. sanctions.

Ebrahim Raisi received 17.9 million votes, or about 62% of the ballots cast, according to Iran’s interior ministry.

Mr. Raisi’s main challenger, Abdolnaser Hemmati, the only moderate candidate left in the race, received about 8.5% of the vote.

Iran’s current president, Hassan Rouhani, visited Mr. Raisi on Saturday to congratulate him on the victory.

Mr. Raisi has criticized his predecessor’s outreach to Western countries—and the U.S. has targeted Iran’s new president with sanctions in 2019 for his close ties to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.