Strong turnout in Iran's presidential election
Iranians packed polling stations today in a tight presidential race between a well-known moderate cleric, who became the default choice for reformists, and a hard-liner seeking to reclaim the values of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The run-off election capped weeks of campaigning that came down to a choice over sharply differing visions for the future of Iran and options for expanding relations with the West. First returns are expected around 10.30pm Irish Time.
The narrow winner last week, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, has received a flood of support from progressive and business groups seeking to protect the liberalising reforms since the late 1990s.
His surprise opponent, Tehran’s ultra-conservative mayor, Mahoud Ahmadinejad, has built on his strong appeal among Iran’s impoverished classes and powerful forces opposing any changes to the Islamic regime.
“This is the beginning of a new movement,” said Ahmadinejad after voting.
Turnout was strong, and voting was extended two hours to 9pm (5.30pm Irish Time). Further extensions could happen – in last week’s first round, an extra four hours of voting was added.
The reformist-led Interior Ministry sought to halt voting at some stations in Tehran because of “interference” by partisans, but the ruling theocracy did not immediately act on the request, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The report gave no other details.
A ministry worker who was at a polling station reminding officials to watch for violations was arrested after he got in an argument with representatives of one of the two candidates, ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said.
The first round ended with bitter accusations that the Revolutionary Guards and its vigilante wings intimidated voters to swing the poll toward Ahmadinejad. Election overseers told the groups to stay clear of polling sites in the run-off.
The polling stations displayed the tight character of the race. Lines were long in working-class areas of south Tehran, an Ahmadinjad stronghold. But polling stations were also clogged in well-off areas of the city where Rafsanjani is favoured.
About 63% of Iran’s nearly 47 million voters cast ballots in the first round.
The two rivals represent sharply differing views.
Rasfanjani backers hope he will preserve greater social freedoms that arose in the 1990s and will keep a steady hand on Iran’s nuclear programme. Ahmadinejad sought support among those embittered by the social changes and those who have suffered in Iran’s faltering economy.
Daryoush Hamadi, a 30-year-old Rafsanjani supporter, said: “The country is doomed if hard-liners take the presidency.”
A 17-year-old voter, Masoud Memarian, said he backed Ahmadinejd “for the sake of God.”
“Religious democracy can save the country,” Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, considered a leading Ahmadinejad supporter, told worshippers at prayers at Tehran University today: “Every vote you cast is a bullet in the hearts” of the US.
In the first round, Rafsanjani stumbled to first place with just 21% of the vote – well short of predictions. Ahmadinejad was right behind him with about 19.5%, forcing Iran’s first presidential run-off.
This week’s brief campaign was all about trying to attract voters from the defeated first round candidates – who spanned from reformers to staunch conservatives.
Reformists and other groups flocked to Rafsanjani’s side in fear that a Ahmadinejad victory would push Iran back toward the rigid Islamic system of the 1979 revolution.
Rafsanjani, a self-proclaimed moderate, represents the status quo. Backers believe he will continue the Western-friendly reforms of outgoing President Mohammad Khatami, including business and cultural openings and youth-supported freedoms such as dating, music, and colourful headscarves for women.
Rafsanjani, whose family runs a wealthy conglomerate, was president from 1989-97. He then became a key adviser to the ruling theocracy, which holds near-absolute power over any elected official, including the president.
He is seen as one of the few leaders with the authority to challenge supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his hand-picked inner circle.
Rafsanjani also portrays himself as the best hand to guide the sensitive nuclear talks with the West. Washington claims Iran’s nuclear power programme is a cover for building atomic bombs. Iran denies this.
“Rafsanjani can manage the important issues of Iran, especially the nuclear story, in a moderate way,” said Reza Khatibi, 47, a book store owner. “If he’s not elected, I will leave this country. It will be so dangerous.”
Today, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, reiterated statements that Iran will eventually resume uranium enrichment, which it suspended in November to avoid possible UN Security Council intervention in the nuclear impasse.
Uranium enriched to low levels has energy uses, while highly enriched uranium can be used in bombs.
Ahmadinejad, 49, has portrayed himself as a populist. In a campaign video broadcast on Wednesday, he contrasted his humble style with shots of the villa of a previous mayor.
“What we need is justice,” he said. “We ask officials: ‘Why are you living in palaces?”’
It is a message that resonates strongly in a nation of vast stretches of poverty, despite its oil and gas riches. Ahmadinejad, a former Revolutionary Guards commander, urges a return to the values of sacrifice and common purpose that were espoused after the revolution toppled the US-backed monarchy and the 1980-88 wr with Iraq.
His list of promises targets Iran’s underclass: higher wages, more development funds for rural areas, expanded health insurance and more social benefits for women.
For the nuclear talks, Ahmadinejad is expected to introduce a new team that could include some of Iran’s most anti-Western clerics.
