Elections opened yesterday in Iran to elect a successor to President Khatami, who cannot run for a third consecutive term.
Of 68 million Iranians, almost 47 million are over the age of 15 and so eligible to vote at more than 40,000 polling stations throughout the country until 7:30pm.
However, it was expected that the voting period would be extended for three more hours.
PHOTO: AP
Due to the recent spate of bombings, more than 20,000 police were on hand to provide security at the polling stations.
The interior ministry said that the army and the air force would aid the police on election day.
According to the latest police report, no incidents were registered in the country in the first three hours of the elections.
Iranian police Chief Morteza Talaie said yesterday that his forces were in full control of security.
Iran's intelligence chief Ali Yunessi told state television that the reports he has so far gained from Tehran and the provinces indicate that "there is an unpredictable enthusiasm among the people."
European diplomats who are in Tehran have been allowed by the interior ministry to visit some of the polling stations, said that the turnout so far was beyond their expectations.
President Khatami yesterday expressed hope that the new Iranian president would be elected in the first round with no need for a second one.
Khatami told reporters after casting his vote in Tehran that the Interior Ministry was however prepared to hold the second round if necessary as scheduled on June 24.
The president further said that elections are the most suitable platform for the people to involve themselves in state decisions and called on the people to avail themselves of this democratic opportunity.
Due to the tight security, Khatami's voting venue was changed from a polling station in northern Tehran to the election headquarters in the interior ministry.
Meanwhile, the leading candidate Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani yesterday predicted a victory for himself in the first round.
Talking to reporters after casting his vote in Tehran, Rafsanjani doubted that the elections would reach the second round.
The favorites among the seven candidates are the moderate cleric Rafsanjani, reformist Mostafa Moein and the conservative ex-police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. Qalibaf told reporters he believes a second round of voting will be necessary.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday that every vote cast will strengthen the country's Islamic establishment.
Khamenei, one of the first Iranians to go to the polls, said that the votes would also discourage "our enemies" who try to persuade world public opinion that Islam and democracy are not compatible.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
RSS