Iran Elects Hardline New Leader


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Iran elects hardline new leader

Election officials open a ballot box in Iran

Mosques across Iran were pressed into action as counting centres

The ultra-conservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has won Iran's presidential election run-off, the interior ministry has confirmed.

With the count almost complete Mr Ahmadinejad had won 61% of votes, ahead of the more moderate ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on 35%.

Some 22m people voted, a turnout of 47%, down from 63% in the first round.

Mr Ahmadinejad surprised observers by beating five other candidates in the first round to reach the run-off.

Poor provinces across Iran appear to have voted massively for the former military officer, who campaigned on a conservative Islamic platform and promised to ease social conditions for millions of people.

"The figures show that Ahmadinejad is the winner," interior ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani told reporters.

Divided country

He has pledged to tackle corruption and resist western "decadence" while his opponent seemed more willing to engage with Western nations and the USA.

The BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran says the choice between the two has divided the country from top to bottom along ideological and class lines.

FIRST-ROUND RESULTS

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani - 21%

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (above) - 19.5%

Mehdi Karroubi - 17.3%

Source: Iranian interior ministry

While Mr Ahmadinejad's Islamic orthodoxy has concerned many, others have attacked Mr Rafsanjani's alleged wealth, branding him "a new Shah".

Earlier, supporters of Mr Rafsanjani, a former president, said victory for Mr Ahmadinejad would signal voting fraud.

In the first round of voting last week Mr Ahmadinejad, previously considered an outsider, beat five other candidates to win a place in the run-off.

Reformist candidates accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Basij security services of orchestrating a plot to boost Mr Ahmadinejad.

Casting his vote on Friday, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "Today is the beginning of a new political era for the Iranian nation."

Allegations

Throughout polling on Friday, and as the count continued into the early hours of Saturday, tensions between the two sides remained high.

Interior ministry officials monitored polling stations for evidence of malpractice, with some 300 complaints of electoral violations in Tehran alone, the Associated Press news agency reports.

As counting got under way, aides to Mr Rafsanjani were quick to assert that a win for Mr Ahmadinejad would confirm systematic voting fraud.

"We know that massive irregularities have taken place," Mohammed Atrianfar told Reuters news agency.

There were also complaints from Iran's ministry of culture about domestic media coverage.

One ultra-conservative newspaper printed its Saturday edition hours before the result was known, bearing the headline: "Ahmadinejad's Landslide Victory: The Nation Ends the Job."

As the count continued, Iran's supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, banned both camps from celebrating victory and urged people to keep off the streets.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4621249.stm

I wonder how he'll handle Bush...

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Some people are blaming Bush for the hardline strength. Bush commented about young Iranians not like the unelected Mullahs and that seemed to envigorate the anti-US hardline campaign.

[Thread Moved from NFN to RWI]

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