Ahmadinejad faces election challenge from moderate

U.S. stakes in Iranian election
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By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranians vote on Friday in a presidential election which pits hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against a former prime minister who sharply criticizes his economic record and seeks detente with the West.
Four candidates are standing in the poll but Ahmadinejad's strongest challenger appears to be the moderate Mirhossein Mousavi, whose supporters have paraded through Tehran in their thousands to demonstrate their backing.
The election result could help set the tone for Iran's relations with the West, which is concerned about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. A victory for Mousavi could increase the prospects for Western investment in the Islamic Republic, analysts say.
But for Iranians it is a chance to pass judgment on Ahmadinejad's four years in office, particularly his management of Iran's oil exporting economy, which is suffering from high inflation and unemployment.
Although Ahmadinejad says his government has revived economic growth and curbed price rises, the economy was the primary campaign issue. Official inflation is around 15 percent.
Social issues, such as strict dress codes for women and Iran's ties with the outside world also featured in the campaign but the outcome of the vote will not shift Iran's foreign policy, which is determined by supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. TIES
The United States has had no ties with Iran since shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution and remains the "Great Satan" in the leadership's demonology. President Barack Obama has offered a new relationship if Tehran "unclenches its fist."
Mousavi rejects Western demands that Iran halt uranium enrichment but analysts say he would bring a different approach to Iran-U.S. ties and Iran's nuclear program, which the West fears is a cover to build bombs. Iran denies it.
Voting starts at 8 a.m. (0330 GMT) and officials expect a high turnout from the country's 46 million eligible voters. If no clear winner emerges from Friday's vote a run-off will be held on June 19 between the two front-runners.
Ahmadinejad's opponents, who also include liberal cleric Mehdi Karoubi and former Revolutionary Guard leader Mohsen Rezaie, have urged the Interior Ministry and Khamenei to ensure there is no vote rigging.
"I have concerns...and we have prepared our forces to monitor the election," Karoubi told Reuters on the eve of the vote. "I believe that if there is a high turnout it will neutralize the fact that some forces are trying to influence the vote."
Ahmadinejad has ruled out any possibility of fraud and candidates' representatives will be allowed to witness the vote at each of the 45,000 polling stations across the country.
(Editing by Dominic Evans and Angus MacSwan)

Source: Reuters