HARD-LINER Ebrahim Raisi has been elected as the new president of Iran, receiving 62 per cent of the vote in results announced on Saturday.

But just 48 per cent of the eligible population voted in the much-criticised poll, the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic republic.

Hundreds of candidates had been barred from running in the presidential election with the 12-member Guardian Council ensuring that Mr Raisi, head of the country’s judiciary, faced little credible challenge.