Iran chooses new President in tense race

IRAN: Iran chooses a new President on Friday in what is emerging as a two-horse race between moderate ex-premier Mir Hossein Mousavi and incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose turbulent four years in office have been marked by a nuclear standoff with the West and deep economic crisis.

The country is gearing up for a tense battle in Friday's election after a campaign of mudslinging and unusually feisty televised debates between the four candidates.

Running alongside Ahmadinejad and Mousavi are reformist ex-parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi, the only cleric among the candidates, and the conservative former head of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohsen Rezai.

But the race has become a straight fight between Ahmadinejad the hardline outspoken son of a blacksmith, and Mousavi the last man to hold the post of premier who steered the economy during Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Kamran Daneshjoo, the head of Iran's election committee, said on Monday he expects "record-breaking turnout" among the 46.2 million eligible voters, half of whom were born after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

He predicted turnout would be high "despite the propaganda of the arrogant nations (Western powers) who are undermining the election."

Analysts are still hesitant to pick a winner, suggesting the vote may be a repeat of 2005 when a relatively unknown Ahmadinejad scored a stunning upset in a second-round runoff against heavyweight cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Tehran, Tuesday, AFP