Iranians go to the polls to elect new president

Iranians queued on Friday to vote for a new president, many feeling a sense of national duty, others hoping for a better future and some because they thought they had to.

Mehrdad, a 22-year-old university student voting in his first presidential election, said he had rushed to his designated polling station at a mosque in western Teheran.

Some 70 people had formed separate queues of men and women before polling opened at 8 am (local time).

"I'm voting because I want to be a part of building my country's future," said Mehrdad, adding that his choice was Teheran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. "I want a president who understands the pain of the middle class," he said, arguing that conservative frontrunner Qalibaf was popular because of his track record as mayor.

Like the other five candidates, Qalibaf has pledged to fix an economy hurt by international sanctions and charges of mismanagement after eight years under Ahmadinejad.

Voting was scheduled to continue until 6 pm but if there is a big turnout the interior ministry can issue an extension until midnight.

If no candidate secures 50.1 percent or more of the votes to win outright on Friday, a second round will be held a week later. The first results are expected on Saturday.

Iran has been at loggerheads with world powers over its nuclear ambitions, which the West suspects is aimed at developing atomic weapons.

Another main contender is top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, whose five years of negotiations with world powers over Iran's atomic drive have failed to yield a breakthrough.

"I voted for Jalili ... His comments and actions are in accordance with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's guidelines," said a cleric, after voting in a south Teheran mosque.

Another voter, Tahereh Sha'aban, 25, dressed in traditional black chador, said she to had followed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's advice.

"My choice fully adheres to his teachings, since what the leader wants is what the people want," she said, without specifying who she voted for.

AFP-AP-Reuters

(China Daily 06/15/2013 page8)