Iran votes for new president, Khamenei slams U.S. doubts

Last edited Fri Jun 14, 2013, 11:04 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Millions of Iranians voted to choose a new president on Friday, urged by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to turn out in force to discredit suggestions by arch foe the United States that the election would be a sham.

The 50 million eligible voters had a choice between six candidates to replace incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but none is seen as challenging the Islamic Republic's 34-year-old system of clerical rule.

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Voting in the capital Tehran, Khamenei called on Iranians to vote in large numbers and derided Western misgivings about the credibility of the vote.

"I recently heard that someone at the U.S. National Security Council said 'we do not accept this election in Iran'," he said.

"We don't give a damn," he added.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/14/uk-iran-election-idUKBRE95C1DL20130614

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Iran voters draw spirit in showdown atmosphere.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's supreme leader delivered a salty rebuke to the U.S. Friday as Iranians lined up to vote in a presidential election that has suddenly become a showdown across the Islamic Republic's political divide: Hard-liners looking to cement their control and re-energized reformists backing the lone moderate left in the race.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responded to U.S. questions over the openness of the balloting, telling Washington "the hell with you" after casting his ballot in a race widely criticized in the West as pre-rigged in favor of Tehran's ruling system.

Long lines snaked outside some voting stations in Tehran and elsewhere. Iran's interior ministry extended the voting time by two hours. The enthusiasm suggested an election that was once viewed as a pre-engineered victory for Iran's ruling establishment has become a chance for reform-minded voters re-exert their voices after years of withering crackdowns.

There is no clear front-runner among the six candidates trying to succeed the combative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose eight-year era is coming to an end because of rules blocking a run for a third consecutive term. But influential figures on all sides have appealed for a strong turnout, indicating both the worries and hopes across an election that has been transformed in recent days.

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