Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani held a narrow lead on Saturday in Iran's presidential election, but was far short of outright victory, with an unprecedented run-off vote now certain, officials said. Sources close to the Guardian Council, a watchdog body, said Rafsanjani had taken 21 percent of the 26.64 million votes counted from around 32 million cast in Friday's poll. Former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was in second place with 19.7 percent. If they hold their edge over their nearest rival, Mehdi Karroubi, who had 17.8 percent of votes counted, the pair will square off next Friday in a deciding election, Reuters reported.
