TEHRAN — After an exuberant campaign season, voters across Iran voted today in a fiercely contested presidential election with potentially broad domestic and international repercussions.
Long lines began forming outside polling stations well before they opened, suggesting a large turnout.
Washington and capitals around the world are tensely anticipating the outcome of the vote, which pits incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against reformist Mir-Hossein Mousavi and two other challengers. The Islamic Republic and the West are at odds over Tehran's nuclear program and support for militant groups that oppose Israel. Pro-U.S. Arab leaders have decried Iran's rising ambitions.
The next president, analysts say, will play a key role in formulating Iran's response to the Obama administration's offer of comprehensive talks after a 30-year cold war between Tehran and Washington, which is rooting for Ahmadinejad to lose.
"There's a hope that if Ahmadinejad is not reelected this might facilitate engagement with Iran, specifically on the nuclear issue," said Alireza Nader, an analyst at Rand Corp. "Ahmadinejad's rhetoric and style has an effect on U.S.-Iran engagement. Mousavi is seen as an easier candidate to deal with by certain segments of the [U.S.] foreign policy establishment."
For voters in this country of 70 million, the election has emerged as a referendum on Ahmadinejad, pitting those who support his populist economic policies and fiery international posture against those angered by his conservative social policies and his perceived damaging of Iran's relations with the West.
Rogine Behtoub, 24, a teacher, said she came to the polling station at the Hosseiniyeh Ershad mosque in north Tehran to vote against Ahmadinejad.
"I'm not coming here to vote for anyone. I'm voting against someone. I want a change in the situation. I want better relations with the outside world," Behtoub said.
But Amir Absalami, 29, a worker from the poorer southern part of Tehran, said Ahmadinejad needed more time in office.
"The things Ahmadinejad says are in tune with reality," he said. "He doesn't lie. Besides, we have to give him a chance. He's only been there four years. Now, he's being attacked by all sides."
Polling numbers are scarce and unreliable. No independent pollsters operate in Iran. Ahmadinejad supporters say he'll clobber Mousavi, his chief challenger. Mousavi's supporters say their polls show Ahmadinejad will lose by a double-digit margin.
