IRANIANS voted in a snap election today to replace late president Ebrahim Raisi, with the race’s sole reformist candidate vowing to seek “friendly relations” with the West in an effort to energise supporters.

Voters face a choice between hardline candidates and the little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon.

As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from running, while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognised monitors.