Iranians go to polls in test for Ahmadinejad

Tehran, Dec 15: Iranians started voting today for local councils and a powerful clerical body in the first electoral test for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies since he swept to office in 2005.

The vote for city and rural councils and the Assembly of Experts, in theory the most powerful institution in the Islamic Republic, will show if the president's rivals are regaining popularity even if the results have no direct impact on policy.

Ahmadinejad's anti-Western and anti-Israel statements have caused alarm in the West. Any indication his popularity is waning is likely to be taken as a welcome sign among Western countries worried about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The United States has accused Iran of having a secret programme to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Polling stations opened at 1100 hrs and are due to close at 2100 hrs although in past elections voting has often been extended.

''In the next few minutes, we will take part in elections to reinforce the leadership and contribute to the development of the country,'' Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi told state television, moments before polling stations opened.

Results may not be released until late on Sunday.

Forecasting is hampered because Iran has no reliable opinion polls.

Iran's reform movement, defeated in 2003 council polls and subsequent parliamentary and presidential races, is trying to make a comeback but, by its own admission, does not expect to make sweeping gains.

All eyes will be on the Tehran City Council race, where reformists now hold no seats, but where the conservative camp has been split between supporters of Ahmadinejad and his bitter rival, Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

Turnout

''I am sure that our people will once more show off their greatness to the people of the world by participating in the election,'' Ahmadinejad said on state TV on the eve of voting.

Much may depend on the turnout of Iran's 46.5 million eligible voters, who will choose between around 233,000 candidates for more than 113,000 city and rural council posts.

In the 2003 council race, turnout was a modest 49 percent, and just 12 percent in Tehran. Many voters were disenchanted with reformists then in power for failing to deliver the freer society they had promised. Some have now had a change of heart.

''I am telling everyone to vote. Otherwise conservatives will become stronger,'' said Nazi, a 45-year-old housewife who did not want her full name to be used when discussing politics.

The 86-member Assembly of Experts appointed, supervises and can unseat Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic's highest authority under its system of clerical rule.

Although it holds powers even parliament or the president cannot boast, the assembly is dominated by traditional conservative clerics who have kept a low profile and are never known to have challenged Khamenei's actions.

That race is dominated by two rivals, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a mid-ranking cleric who has been at the heart of decision-making in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, and a top-ranking theologian, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, widely seen as Ahmadinejad's mentor.

Reuters