Foreign Correspondence

[otraque]

There is only one way Bush can get Pahlavi in and that is via invasion of Iran--there is no other way--none.
The boycott was a total failure as 80% is the estimated voters turnout and the extreme tightness of the race shows it was democratic----but i see Democratic Congressman Waxman and the Tehrangeles joining Bush in a massive propaganda campaign to move us to war with Iran as we become no different than Nazi Germany as they invaded one european country after another as Prime Minister Champerlain infamously pronounced "Peace in Our Time"

<<Iranian voters stream to polls in tight presidential race
TEHRAN, JUNE 17 (AP)
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=305118

Voters ignored boycott calls and filled polling stations today in a tight preidential race to decide who will inherit Iran's many challenges _ including demands for reform at home and crucial nuclear talks with the West.

But the count _ expected tomorrow _ also could end without a clear winner. If no candidate clears 50 per cent, the contest shrinks to a two-man showdown June 24 and reopens the Western-style campaigns that have reshaped Iranian politics.

Voting was so heavy that polling was extended four hours. Election stations finally closed at 11 p.M. (1830 GMT).

The strong turnout is believed to benefit a reformist candidate, Mostafa Moin, and Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pragmatist who served as president from 1989-97.

If the race goes to a run-off, one of the two candidates is almost certain to be Rafsanjani, 70, a leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution who now portrays himself as a steady hand for uneasy times.

The big question is who would be the other run-off contender: Moin, who represents the stumbling reform movement of outgoing President Mohammad Khatami, or former national police chief Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who is backed by conservatives.

In poor south Tehran, women in full black chadors waited up to 30 minutes to vote. In posh northern suburbs, young women in colorful head scarves and bright lipstick called friends on mobile phones to urge them to vote.

Ballot stations were set up in shrines and Tehran's main cemetery for those making the traditional weekly visit to family graves. ``Fight the enemy by casting a vote,' said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei _ head of the non-elected Islamic theocracy whose near-absolute power can override both the president and parliament.

All Iranians understood Khamenei's code word for the United States and other foes of the nation's Islamic system. A day earlier, U.S. President George W. Bush denounced the election as a futile exercise since the clerics retain the real power _ comments that hard-liners in Iran said would only inspire more Iranians to vote.

But many voters appeared to draw most enthusiasm from the range of choices _ a seven-candidate field spanning from Moin to hard-liners with ties to the regime's military guardians.

Moin, 54, a former culture minister, is considered the heir of Khatami's eight-year legacy _ which opened groundbreaking social freedoms such as dating and wide-open Internet access, but failed to chip away at the ruling clerics' power. Moin made a campaign promise to name Khatami's brother as vice president.

Qalibaf, 44, the former police chief, appeals to conservatives. He is credited with bringing more professionalism to the police force.

Anti-regime have activists urged ``none of the above.' Boycott appeals have been carried on Web sites, pamphlets and satellite TV programs from the large Iranian community around Los Angeles _ given the local nickname ``Tehrangeles.>>
<< Iran to Have 1st Presidential Runoff Ever By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050618/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_elections

TEHRAN, Iran - Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, the frontrunner in Iran's presidential election, failed to win enough votes for an outright victory, forcing the country to schedule its first runoff in history.


With about three-quarters of the ballots counted, Rafsanjani had 21.5 percent after a strong voter turnout that defied a boycott drive by dissidents, according to the state-run media. Iran's hard-line leaders said President Bush helped fuel the turnout by sharply criticizing the elections as undemocratic and angering many Iranians.

But the race for runner-up was still up for grabs Saturday.

Conservatives were making a strong showing in the partial count. Mahdi Karroubi, the former parliament speaker, held the second spot with 20.2 percent. Karroubi is a close a close ally of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who heads the non-elected theocracy that can overrule the president or parliament.

Karroubi was trailed by Tehran's conservative mayor, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, with 17.2 percent. The top pro-reform candidate, Mostafa Moin, had fallen to fifth place with 14.3 percent, behind Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former head of the national police, with 15.2 percent.

But the final outcome -- expected later Saturday -- could significantly reshuffle the race for runner-up. City voters were considered to favor Rafsanjani and Moin, a former culture minister.

What was certain was that a run-off would be needed in Iran's tightest presidential election since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. An Interior Ministry official involved in the counting told The Associated Press that the vote was too splintered among the seven candidates to give anyone the required 50 percent plus one to win. A second round is planned for next Friday, he said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Johanbakhsh Khanjani announced voter turnout in some provinces had exceeded 80 percent. In others it varied between 65 percent and 80 percent.

Iran has 46.7 million eligible voters, including millions of them living overseas. Votes from the heavier populated regions, such as Tehran with a population of 10.3 million, would be among the last to be tallied.

Rafsanjani, who was president between 1989 and 1997 and was the front-runner throughout the campaign, won his home province of Kerman, taking 45 percent of the vote, provincial election official Rasoul Moazemi told The Associated Press.

But even Rafsanjani's son Mahdi, who has been working on the campaign, told The AP that his father couldn't get the 50 percent of the popular vote to avoid a run-off.

During the campaign, the pragmatic Rafsanjani portrayed himself as a steady hand at the helm, able to navigate Iran through the treacherous days ahead, fraught with uncertainty over the nuclear program, relations with the United States and neighboring Iraq.

A day before the election, Bush sharply denounced the vote, saying it was designed to keep power in the hands of the clerics. But some Iranians said they were motivated to vote to retaliate against Bush's denunciations.

"I picked Ahmadinejad to slap America in the face," said Mahdi Mirmalek after attending Friday prayers at Tehran University.

At Tehran University, the leader of Friday prayers, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, told worshippers that voting "strengthens the pillars of the ruling Islamic establishment." Followers then joined in with the common chant of "Death to America!"

The United States accuses Iran of using nuclear technology as a cover to develop atomic arms. Iran denies the claims and insists it aims only for electricity-producing reactors. Iran has suspended uranium-enrichment work during ongoing talks with European envoys to seek a compromise and avoid possible U.N. sanctions.

Iran's top security official, Hasan Rowhani, told reporters that Iran needs a "powerful and experienced" president to handle nuclear talks -- an apparent plug for his ally Rafsanjani.

Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic ties since 1979 when Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy and kept 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

___

Associated Press Correspondent Ali Akbar Dareini contributed to this report from Tehran.>>