Iran candidates concede

The sole moderate in Iran’s presidential election yesterday conceded his loss to the country’s hard-line judiciary chief. It signaled the protege of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had won a vote he dominated after the disqualification of his strongest competition. Both moderate and former Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati and former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei offered their congratulations to Ebrahim Raisi. Authorities last night had yet to offer any official results. Opinion polling by state-linked organisations, along with analysts, indicated that Raisi — who already is under US sanctions — was the front-runner in a field of only four candidates. That led to a widespread apathy among voters.