[font=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Voting ends in Iran's presidential poll[/font]
Friday 24 June 2005, 22:27 Makka Time, 19:27 GMT
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The tight presidential runoff may throw up a result that could toughen policy towards the West and end tentative moves towards liberalisation if a hardline candidate beats Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Political analysts say the result of Friday's poll is too close to call, with the contest reflecting deep social divisions apparent in the Islamic Republic's population of 67 million people.
Voters stood in long lines in poor south Tehran, a stronghold of ultra-conservative Tehran mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad, who has won over Iran's religious poor with promises to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly.
"I will vote for Ahmadinejad because he wants to cut off the hands of those who are stealing the country's national wealth. He wants to fight poverty, fraud and discrimination," said Rahmatollah Izadpanah, 41, queuing in south Tehran.
In wealthier uptown parts of the capital, Rafsanjani voters turned out in fear Ahmadinejad would revive the strictures and purges that followed the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Varying priorities
"Our freedom is at stake," said Somayeh, 23, wearing a veil but also with make-up that conservatives frown upon.
Turnout appeared less solid in north Tehran and a few of those questioned backed Ahmadinejad. Independent estimates of turnout in the rest of Iran were not immediately available.
Polls are due to close at 7pm (1430 GMT) but may be extended up to 11pm, as in the first round. Initial results are expected early on Saturday.
Rafsanjani, a cleric bidding to regain the post he held from 1989 to 1997, has recast himself as a liberal with vows to preserve the reforms of outgoing President Mohammad Khatami, who loosened Islamic social rules and pursued detente with the West.
"I intend to play a historic political role ... to stop the domination of extremism," Rafsanjani, 70, said after voting.
Ahmadinejad, 48, a surprise contender in the runoff, says ties with Washington are not a priority.
Ahmadinejad is a former instructor of the Basij militia - zealous guardians of the revolution's ideals - and a staunch supporter of Supreme Leader Ayat Allah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say over Iran's nuclear policy and all other matters of state.
Reformist candidates beaten in the first round and now backing Rafsanjani accuse the hardline Revolutionary Guards and Basij of backing Ahmadinejad, who dismisses the charges.
Hardline support
About 150 Basijis gathered where Ahmadinejad voted and chanted: "Ahmadinejad we love you, Ahmadinejad we support you." A handful then started shouting: "Death to America."
Opponents fear Ahmadinejad will purge ministries and other bodies, citing what he did to municipal bodies as Tehran mayor.
The interior, culture and economy ministries are among those held by Khatami-backed reformists. Iran Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh made his loyalties clear by turning up at a Rafsanjani rally this week.
"Today is the beginning of a new political era for the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said when he cast his ballot.
Unfair
Washington says the election is unfair because an unelected religious body blocked the vast majority of would-be candidates.
The runoff is between the top two of seven candidates from the first round, when turnout was 63% of 47 million eligible voters. It is the first time since the 1979 revolution that a presidential poll has gone to a second vote.
The election has exposed deep splits among Iran's mostly youthful electorate. The minimum voting age is 15.
Rafsanjani voters tend to be from the upper and middle classes who are tired of Iran's isolation, want more social freedom and back his plans to liberalise the state-dominated economy.
Ahmadinejad has most support among the religiously conservative poor, who struggle to make ends meet and for whom strict Islamic codes are no worry. To them, Ahmadinejad is challenging the vested interests of Rafsanjani's wealthy family and others.
Friday 24 June 2005, 22:27 Makka Time, 19:27 GMT
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Rafsanjani (R) has vowed to push ahead with reforms if elected
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Polling has closed in Iran's runoff election after a series of extensions to handle heavy turnout in the tight race between a well-known moderate cleric and a hard-liner.
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Voting ended at 11pm (1830 GMT) on Friday, said an Interior Ministry spokesman Korosh Mirsaeidi. First returns are expected early on Saturday.
The tight presidential runoff may throw up a result that could toughen policy towards the West and end tentative moves towards liberalisation if a hardline candidate beats Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Political analysts say the result of Friday's poll is too close to call, with the contest reflecting deep social divisions apparent in the Islamic Republic's population of 67 million people.
Voters stood in long lines in poor south Tehran, a stronghold of ultra-conservative Tehran mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad, who has won over Iran's religious poor with promises to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly.
"I will vote for Ahmadinejad because he wants to cut off the hands of those who are stealing the country's national wealth. He wants to fight poverty, fraud and discrimination," said Rahmatollah Izadpanah, 41, queuing in south Tehran.
In wealthier uptown parts of the capital, Rafsanjani voters turned out in fear Ahmadinejad would revive the strictures and purges that followed the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Varying priorities
"Our freedom is at stake," said Somayeh, 23, wearing a veil but also with make-up that conservatives frown upon.
Turnout appeared less solid in north Tehran and a few of those questioned backed Ahmadinejad. Independent estimates of turnout in the rest of Iran were not immediately available.
Polls are due to close at 7pm (1430 GMT) but may be extended up to 11pm, as in the first round. Initial results are expected early on Saturday.
Rafsanjani, a cleric bidding to regain the post he held from 1989 to 1997, has recast himself as a liberal with vows to preserve the reforms of outgoing President Mohammad Khatami, who loosened Islamic social rules and pursued detente with the West.
"I intend to play a historic political role ... to stop the domination of extremism," Rafsanjani, 70, said after voting.
Ahmadinejad, 48, a surprise contender in the runoff, says ties with Washington are not a priority.
Ahmadinejad is a former instructor of the Basij militia - zealous guardians of the revolution's ideals - and a staunch supporter of Supreme Leader Ayat Allah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say over Iran's nuclear policy and all other matters of state.
Reformist candidates beaten in the first round and now backing Rafsanjani accuse the hardline Revolutionary Guards and Basij of backing Ahmadinejad, who dismisses the charges.
Hardline support
About 150 Basijis gathered where Ahmadinejad voted and chanted: "Ahmadinejad we love you, Ahmadinejad we support you." A handful then started shouting: "Death to America."
Opponents fear Ahmadinejad will purge ministries and other bodies, citing what he did to municipal bodies as Tehran mayor.
The interior, culture and economy ministries are among those held by Khatami-backed reformists. Iran Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh made his loyalties clear by turning up at a Rafsanjani rally this week.
"Today is the beginning of a new political era for the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said when he cast his ballot.
Unfair
Washington says the election is unfair because an unelected religious body blocked the vast majority of would-be candidates.
The runoff is between the top two of seven candidates from the first round, when turnout was 63% of 47 million eligible voters. It is the first time since the 1979 revolution that a presidential poll has gone to a second vote.
The election has exposed deep splits among Iran's mostly youthful electorate. The minimum voting age is 15.
Rafsanjani voters tend to be from the upper and middle classes who are tired of Iran's isolation, want more social freedom and back his plans to liberalise the state-dominated economy.
Ahmadinejad has most support among the religiously conservative poor, who struggle to make ends meet and for whom strict Islamic codes are no worry. To them, Ahmadinejad is challenging the vested interests of Rafsanjani's wealthy family and others.
