Race for Iran’s presidency heats up

The race for Iran's presidency heated up on Saturday as the two key moderate challengers to hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad formally registered to stand against him in the June election.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister who steered Iran's economy during the brutal war with Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, has the support of reformist former president Mohammad Khatami.

Former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi is one of the few Iranian politicians who has dared to criticize Ahmadinejad over his dismissal of the Holocaust as a "myth."

 The conditions today are not the best or what the Iranian people deserve 

Mir Hossein Mousavi

They join the conservative former head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corp, Mohsen Rezai, who like Ahmadinejad registered his candidacy on Friday.

"The conditions today are not the best or what the Iranian people deserve," Mousavi said after submitting his bid to the interior ministry.

"I have come to defend the freedom of thought and expression, to pursue constructive interaction and better ties between Iran and the world," he said as dozens of his supporters shouted slogans backing his candidacy.

Reformists

 The Guardians Council, especially its influential members... despite their rhetoric supporting this government, must be very careful in guarding the people's vote 

Mehdi Karroubi

Mousavi, who describes himself as a "reformist who refers to the principles" of the 1979 Islamic revolution, has promised to change Iran's "extremist" image around the world but also to pursue its controversial nuclear program.

Mousavi was Iran's last prime minister as the post was abolished in 1989. With his bid for the presidency, he is seeking a comeback after two decades in the political wilderness.

As he registered his candidacy, Karroubi, a veteran reformist who is now 72, called on the Iranian authorities to respect the verdict of the people.

He said the June 12 election was a "crucial test" for both the Ahmadinejad government and the powerful Guardians Council, the hard-line body which vets all candidates for election.

"The Guardians Council, especially its influential members... despite their rhetoric supporting this government, must be very careful in guarding the people's vote," he said.

Describing the Ahmadinejad government as "incapable and unfit” to run the country, Karroubi said he was "standing for change".

Basij militia

 We are here to hold a free election without intervention of the Basij, without intervention of the armed forces and without intervention of rogue forces 

Mehdi Karroubi

Karroubi contested the last presidential election in 2005 but lost to Ahmadinejad.

In a June 2005 letter to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he blamed his defeat on "illegal interference" by the Revolutionary Guards and their Basij militia.

On Saturday, he demanded that the Revolutionary Guards "not interfere" in this year's election.

"We are here to hold a free election without intervention of the Basij, without intervention of the armed forces and without intervention of rogue forces," Karoubi told reporters.

Clearly addressing Guards chief Mohammad Ali Jafari without naming him, Karoubi said, "The Basij that are under your supervision should completely stay clear of the elections."

Jafari was quoted by the Etemad-e Melli newspaper as saying on Friday, "A part of the Basij, which is not considered a part of the armed forces, is permitted to enter political debates and play an active role."He did not elaborate.

The Basij draws support among young loyalists to the values of the Islamic revolution and has branches in schools, universities, workplaces and elsewhere.

No aggression

Ahmadinejad has said he is "hopeful" of winning.

But he insisted he would not allow anybody to be aggressive towards other candidates "in my name during the campaign."

In his four years as president, Ahmadinejad has drawn condemnation abroad for his anti-Israel tirades and for doggedly pursuing Iran's nuclear program which Western governments suspect is cover for a drive for the bomb.

At home, he has been accused of stoking inflation through expansionary economic policies that critics say have failed to reduce unemployment or poverty.

Whoever wins the June election will take over the presidency a key time when the new U.S. administration of President Barack Obama has been making overtures to Iran.

Although major foreign policy issues remain the preserve of the supreme leader Khamenei, the outcome could influence the success of any rapprochement between Tehran and Washington, which have had no diplomatic relations since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution.