DUBAI: Millions of Iranians voted to choose a new
president on Friday, urged by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to
turn out in force to discredit suggestions by arch foe the United States
that the election would be a sham.
The 50 million eligible voters had a choice between six candidates to
replace incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but none is seen as challenging
the Islamic Republic’s 34-year-old system of clerical rule.
The first presidential poll since a disputed 2009 contest led to
months of unrest is unlikely to change rocky ties between the West and
the OPEC nation of 75 million, but it may bring a softening of the
antagonistic style favoured by Ahmadinejad.
World powers in talks with Iran over its nuclear programme are
looking for any signs of a recalibration of its negotiating stance after
eight years of intransigence under Ahmadinejad.
Voting in the capital Tehran, Khamenei called on Iranians to vote in
large numbers and derided Western misgivings about the credibility of
the vote.
“I recently heard that someone at the U.S. National Security Council said ‘we do not accept this election in Iran’,” he said.
“We don’t give a damn,” he added.
On May 24, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry questioned the
credibility of the election, criticising the disqualification of
candidates and accusing Tehran of disrupting Internet access.
All the remaining contenders except current chief nuclear negotiator
Saeed Jalili have criticised the conduct of diplomacy that has left Iran
increasingly isolated and under painful economic sanctions.
After casting his vote, Jalili said: “Everyone should respect the
name that comes out of the ballot boxes and the person people choose,”
according to ISNA news agency.
Hossein, a 27-year-old voter in Tehran who belongs to the Basij
hardline volunteer militia, said he would vote for Jalili, 47,
Khamenei’s national security adviser and a former Revolutionary Guard
who lost a leg in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
“He is the only one I can trust to respect the values of the revolution … He feels and cares for the needy,” Hossein said.
In Dubai, Iranian expatriate Zahra, 20, a first time voter, said she
cast her ballot for Khamenei’s diplomatic adviser Ali Akbar Velayati
because of his expertise on world affairs.
“When he was foreign minister (from 1981 to 1997), Iran’s relations with all countries were better,” she said.
VOTING EXTENDED
The Guardian Council, a state body that vets all candidates, barred
several hopefuls, notably former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one
of the Islamic Republic’s founding fathers seen as sympathetic to
reform, as well as Ahmadinejad’s close ally Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.
This narrowing of the field prompted concerns of a low turnout which the supreme leader sought to counter.
“What is important is that everyone takes part,” Khamenei said. “Our
dear nation should come (to vote) with excitement and liveliness, and
know that the destiny of the country is in their hands and the happiness
of the country depends on them.”
The Interior Ministry announced that voting, initially due to end at
1330 GMT, would be extended by several hours, Iran’s Press TV reported
in mid-afternoon. In the past, authorities have cited such extensions as
evidence of a high turnout.
Iran’s Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab neighbours are wary of Shi’ite Iran’s
influence in Iraq and its backing for President Bashar al-Assad and his
Lebanese allies Hezbollah in the Syrian war. The Sunni Arab kingdoms are
backing the rebels in Syria.
INFLEXIBLE STANCE
Of five conservative candidates professing unwavering obedience to
Khamenei, only three are thought to stand any chance of winning the
vote, or making it through to a second round run-off in a week’s time.
Nuclear negotiator Jalili, who advocates maintaining a robust,
ideologically-driven foreign policy, is seen as the main conservative
contender.
The other two, Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and former foreign
minister Velayati, have pledged never to back away from pursuing Iran’s
nuclear programme but have strongly criticised Jalili’s inflexible
negotiating stance.
They face Rohani, the sole moderate and only cleric in the race.
Though very much an establishment figure, suspicious of the West, Rohani
is more likely to pursue a conciliatory foreign policy.
The opposition Kaleme website said Rohani’s campaign headquarters had
sent a letter to the Guardian Council urging it to remove the name of
Mohammad Reza Aref – a reformist candidate who dropped out this week in
favour of Rohani – from ballot papers. The complaint said voting slips
in some polling stations carried Aref’s name and this could create
confusion.
With no reliable opinion polls in Iran, it is hard to gauge the
public mood, let alone the extent to which Khamenei and the
Revolutionary Guards exert their influence over the ballot.
2009 CRACKDOWN
Security has been tight and campaigning subdued compared to the
euphoric rallies that preceded the 2009 polls when reformist supporters
thought they scented the prospect of change in Iran.
Those hopes were dashed when Ahmadinejad was returned to office by results the reformists said were rigged.
Human rights groups have criticised Iran for further arrests and
curbs on activists and journalists ahead of Friday’s poll and the
disqualification of 678 people registered as candidates.
Iranian officials dispute accusations of human rights abuses and call
the charges politically motivated. They also say elections in Iran are
free, fair and democratic.
http://www.firstpost.com/world/iran-votes-for-new-president-khamenei-slams-us-doubts-872973.html