Free Republic

Just over a month ago, Sa'id Mortazavi, the Islamic revolutionary prosecutor in Tehran, agreed to receive the wife of one of the many political prisoners languishing in his jails. The visitor wanted Mortazavi to know that her husband, 46-year-old dissident Akbar Ganji, then in the third week of a hunger strike, was nearing death.... Who is Ganji and what is so special about him? Why has President George W Bush singled him out of countless dissidents in Iran by making a special appeal for his release?... Why is the establishment so afraid of Ganji?... To begin with, he is the...

The most astonishing aspect of Friday's presidential vote in Iran is not that the elections will go into a second round but that Tehran managed to convince so many in the West that this is a real demonstration of democracy. All power is held by Supreme Leader Ali Khameni, his Council of Guardians and the small clique of military officers and businessmen around him. The Council disqualified more than 1,000 candidates before the election, vetting only contestants who support the regime's ideological lines. The example of outgoing "reformist" President Mohammad Khatami, who presided over eight years of economic decline and...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - The following are brief portraits of the seven candidates competing to replace reformist Mohammad Khatami in Iran's presidential election on Friday: AKBAR HASHEMI RAFSANJANI A mid-ranking cleric who has held most of the top positions in Iran's political structure and is widely considered to be Iran's second most powerful figure after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani, 70, was president from 1989 to 1997 and is a moderate conservative who favours closer ties with the West and liberalisation of the state-heavy economy. He is credited with bringing the costly 1980-1988 war with Iraq to an end and...

Iran Heads Toward Presidential Runoff By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago TEHRAN, Iran - Iran headed toward the first runoff presidential election in its history as a key government official predicted Saturday that none of the seven candidates — including the favorite contender Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani — would win enough votes for outright victory. Turnout in Friday's vote appeared stronger than expected and polls stayed open an extra four hours, with voting booths even set up at Tehran's main cemetery for those paying weekly visits to family graves. An Interior Ministry official involved in the counting told...

Reza from Tehran: This is 10 am in northern part of Tehran. There is no body in the site and I hope officials would announce the number of voters truly. Hasan from Qom: IRIB (TV & RADIO) is just showing certain places where people go to vote. Most polls are empty here in our city. Amir from Kashmar (east of Iran): No body is around, especially in the morning. Sam from Tehran: I did vote to save my country from likes of Rafsanjani. I voted for Mr. Moin Mehdi from Shiraz: I have counted 10-12 people in this poll in...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and reformist Mostafa Moin are heading to a run-off vote in Iran's presidential election, both camps said on Friday. Aides to the two men told Reuters Rafsanjani and Moin were the top two vote-getters in a field of seven, but neither had gained the 50 percent support needed for outright victory. Official results are expected on Saturday. "Rafsanjani and Moin are the first two, according to our surveys. They are the ones who will compete in the second round," close Rafsanjani aide Mohammad Atrianfar said. "My prediction is that Rafsanjani and Moin...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Whether cowed by crackdowns, pacified by an increase in social freedoms or simply resigned, Iran's students are no longer the force that once spearheaded a revolution or agitated for liberal reform. With just over a week to go before a presidential election in which the Islamic state's clerical leaders have said it is a national and religious duty to vote, student leader Abdollah Momeni is calling -- quietly -- for a boycott. It appears the last resort of a group whose hopes for reform through the ballot box have all but vanished, at least for now. "Voting...