MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russia's presidential election has a huge impact on the future of the country, a far cry from what goes on in the US, where the government is run by the "deep state," and who wins has no effect on policy, Iranian political scientist and international relations expert Mahdi Khanalizade told TASS.

"The election outcome is completely transparent: the high number of votes secured by Vladimir Putin compared to his competitors, as well as the high turnout percentage indicate that, despite claims made by Western politicians and mass media, there are different opinions in Russia: there is both the opposition and the supporters of the state authorities," the expert noted.

He added that the high level of political discourse indicates the "reality of political competition in Russia."

The Iranian researcher also pointed out that this is significantly different from the trends "taking place in some Western states and the US itself, where political discourse is something of a superstructure, and the people’s vote is not able to fundamentally influence the development of the country, ruled by the deep state." The state of the US electoral system is "the complete opposite of the situation that exists in Russia and Iran," the expert concluded.

Russia held its first three-day presidential election from March 15-17. According to the Central Election Commission, after 100% of the vote was tallied by local election commissions, incumbent head of state Vladimir Putin won in a landslide victory over his three rivals with 87.28% of the vote. Voter turnout was 77.44%.