Iran votes to set relations with the West

DUBAI: Millions of Iranians joined long queues to vote, indicating a strong turn-out in an unexpectedly tight presidential election that could determine the future of the country’s nascent emergence from global isolation.

The presidential vote pits incumbent Hassan Rouhani, who wants to normalise ties with the West, against a hardline judge who says Rouhani has sold out the values of Iran’s Islamic revolution.

Rouhani, who struck a deal with world powers two years ago to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the lifting of most economic sanctions, said the election was important “for Iran’s future role in the region and the world”.

“Whoever wins the election, we should help him to fulfil this important and serious duty,” state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

Rouhani, 68, who swept into office four years ago promising to open Iran to the world and give its citizens more freedom at home, faces an unexpectedly strong challenge from Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Raisi has blamed Rouhani for mismanaging the economy and has travelled to poor areas holding rallies, pledging more welfare benefits and jobs.

He is believed to have the backing of the powerful Revolutionary Guards security force, as well as the tacit support of Khamenei, whose powers outrank those of the president but who normally steers clear of day-to-day politics.

In the last election, Rouhani won more than three times as many votes as his closest chal- lenger. But this poll promises to be much closer, as other conservative rivals have backed out and thrown their support behind Raisi.

The guards and other hardliners hope a win for Raisi, 56, will give them an opportunity to safeguard economic and political power they see as jeopardised by the lifting of sanctions and opening to foreign investment.

During weeks of campaigning the two main candidates exchanged accusations of graft and brutality in unprecedentedly hostile TV debates.

Rouhani has urged the guards not to meddle in the vote, a warning that reflects the political tension. Suspicions they falsified voting results in favour of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to eight months of nationwide protests in 2009.

For ordinary Iranians, the election presented a stark choice between competing visions of the country.

Rouhani, known as an establishment insider rather than a gung-ho reformer, has taken on the mantle of the reform camp in recent weeks, with fiery campaign speeches that attacked the human rights records of his opponents.

For conservatives, the election represents a chance to restore the values of the 1979 revolution, which requires elected officials to be subordinate to the Shia Muslim clergy and supreme leader.

“I voted for Raisi because he is a follower of Imam Khamenei… He will protect our Islamic identity,” said Mehran Fardoust, 36, a shopkeeper in Mashhad. – Reuters

PICTURE: XINHUA A woman casts her vote in the Iranian election yesterday.