Iran to conduct presidential polls in June 2009

15:13 | 07/ 09/ 2008

TEHRAN, September 7 (RIA Novosti) – Iran will hold its next
presidential election on June 12, 2009, the Fars news agency reported
on Sunday.

The Guardian Council, the Islamic Republic’s constitutional watchdog,
which reports directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
has approved the date earlier proposed by the interior ministry.

It will be the 10th presidential election in Iran since the 1979
Islamic Revolution.

According to local observers, the main intrigue of the upcoming
election campaign will be whether the incumbent President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, known for his uncompromising approach on Iran’s nuclear
issue, would be re-elected for a second four-year term.

Ahmadinejad, 51, who has been criticized by the opposition in the
country for his failure to curb high inflation, estimated at about 27%
annually, has not yet announced his candidacy for the 2009 election.

Among his potential rivals are former parliament speaker Mehdi
Karroubi, who is the leader of the reformist National Confidence Party,
and Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the 46-year-old mayor of Tehran, who
enjoys the support of moderate conservatives.

Ahmadinejad’s pro-reform opponents have called for more diplomacy in
relations with the West over Iran’s controversial uranium enrichment
program.

Western countries suspect Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons
program, but the country says it needs nuclear power solely for
civilian purposes.

The Islamic Republic which holds the world’s third-largest proven oil
reserves, is already under three sets of UN sanctions over suspicions
it seeks to build nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian
program. It is facing more stringent punitive measures for its refusal
to halt uranium enrichment.