Iran's Foreign Minister announced on Saturday that hardline jurist Ebrahim Raisi had been chosen as the country's new president and that everyone might have to cooperate with him.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, addressing a day after millions of Iranians voted in a referendum shunned by critics due to economic difficulties and political constraints, said Raisi would be a good leader for Iran.

As per Reuters, Zarif also informed a diplomacy forum in the Turkish resort of Antalya that challenges in Iran's nuclear talks with Western nations were not unsolvable and that he aimed to reach an agreement by August.

Raisi, the head of the judiciary, is considered close to Iran's supreme leader, 81-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate political authority.

Iran's moderate presidential candidate applauded his hardline competitor, hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi, on his victory in the election, as per Iranian state media on Saturday, as the interior ministry confirmed vote counting continues.

Millions of Iranians voted on Friday in a presidential election that was widely assumed to award the presidency to Raisi, a conservative jurist condemned by the US for alleged human rights violations, including supervising the killing of hundreds of political prisoners in 1988.

"I hope your government, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would make the Islamic Republic proud, enhance the livelihood, and safeguard the nation's well-being and welfare," former central bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati wrote in a letter, according to media.

Concerns of low participation of 50% or less prompted a two-hour extension of voting on Friday beyond the initial midnight deadline. The paper ballots were counted up overnight, and the results are anticipated by midday (0730 GMT).

Many people opted not to vote after a field of 600 candidates was narrowed down to seven individuals, all of whom were men, except for an ex-president and a former parliament speaker. Three of the vetted candidates withdrew out of the contest two days before the election, and two of them backed Raisi.

Former populist president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was one among those rejected by the strong 12-member Guardian Council of theologians and jurists, has joined others who have declared they won’t vote.

Raisi's lone reformist opponent was the low-key former central bank Chief Abdolnaser Hemmati, 65, who had voted in the low single digits prior to the election.

Onlookers caution that Iran's electorate, which now numbers over 60 million legal voters, has previously delivered unexpected outcomes. If no winner emerges, a runoff election would be conducted the following Friday.