Polls close with results expected as early as today

Polls closed in Iran's presidential election after 19 hours of voting, with results expected as early as midday Saturday. Just over 12 hours into voting, nationwide turnout had reached 37 per cent, the Fars news agency reporeted, as overseas Iranians also cast their ballots in Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon and elsewhere.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast the ceremonial first ballot after polls opened at 7am and urged people to come out and choose from the limited field of candidates that sparked public anger and calls for an election boycott.

Mr Khamenei's hard-line protégé, judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, is tipped to beat the three other candidates left in the race after three others withdrew in the past week.

"Each vote counts ... come and vote and choose your president ... this is important for the future of your country," Mr Khamenei said after casting his vote in the capital Tehran.

After a two-hour extension following calls from some media and the campaigns of candidates, voting officially closed at 2.00am on Saturday. If no clear winner emerges, a runoff will be held on June 25, defying predictions.

Pre-election polling by the Iranian Students Polling Agency found only 40 per cent of the 59.3 million eligible Iranians intended to vote.

No presidential race since the republic was founded in 1979 has had a turnout below 50 per cent.

The elections faced early difficulties, with reports of malfunctioning electronic voting machines at some polling locations in Tehran and other places across the country, and a shortage of paper ballots at others.

The governor of Tehran, Anoushirvan Mohseni Bandpay, said 79 polling stations in the capital faced technical issues.

Voting also took place around the world at Iran's various consulates and embassies.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said there were 133 diplomatic missions and 234 polling stations abroad where Iranians could vote. Singapore, Yemen and Canada were the only countries where expats weren't able to vote.

In the UAE, voting took place at the Iranian consulate in Dubai.

The polling opened 8am local time. Mirroring the low turnout in Iran and other locations around the world, handfuls of Iranians filtered in and out of the consulate, barely having to wait to cast their ballots. Those that showed up were seemingly conservative older voters and mostly men.

Big-name politicians went to the polls as well, including reformist leader and former president Mohammad Khatami. Mr Khatami's images and name are banned from being published by Iranian media because of his support for the protests against alleged fraud in the 2009 presidential election that gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term.

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif used the polling station in Antalya while on a diplomatic trip to Turkey.

Mr Raisi, the front-runner, cast his ballot in Tehran in the morning. Moderate candidate Abdolnasser Hemmati and his wife also cast their ballots early.

Mr Ahmadinejad, who called for an election boycott after being disqualified from running this year, confirmed that he would not be voting. He published a video in which he said he would not be supporting any of the candidates and calls the elections a "sin" that ignores the will of the people.

The election cycle was largely dominated by voter apathy, and Iran's attempts to revive its nuclear deal with world powers and jump-start the struggling economy were both issues seen as failures of President Hassan Rouhani's administration.

During debates leading up to the election, the candidates used much of their time to blame Mr Rouhani for government failures over the past eight years.