The World - News from July 31, 1989

Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, received 94.5% of the vote to win election as Iran’s president, final results showed. His only opponent was former Cabinet minister Abbas Sheibani. Interior Minister Ali Akbar Mohtashemi told a news conference that another item on the ballot Friday--a revamped constitution that scraps the post of prime minister, thereby giving the president more power--was approved by 97%. Despite reports of a low turnout, he said a record 70% of the Muslim nation’s 24 million eligible voters took part.