国际英语新闻：Iran's presidential election still unpredictable amid tight race

TEHRAN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Two front-runners in the race for Iran's next presidency -- incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi -- seemed to have no favorite odds-on as their close contest entered the last day.

    The impending election saw thousands of Iranians taking to the street in the last rallies on Wednesday to support their respective candidates who geared up rhetoric of accusing each other in their final struggle. No campaigns would be allowed from Thursday on, a day before the election day.

Iranian President and candidate for the upcoming presidential election Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to supporters before addressing them in front of the Sharif University in Tehran June 10, 2009

Analysts have predicted the competition would be mainly between hard-line conservative Ahmadinejad and reformist Mousavi, but kept divergent opinions on who would finally win.

    "My prediction (about the result of election) is that he (Ahmadinejad) will be elected as president for the second time," Mohammad Pirali, chief editor of Iran's conservative Siasat-e-Rooz(Daily Politics), said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Supporters of Iranian presidential hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi, former Prime Minister, hold posters of Mousavi during a presidential election campaign in Teheran, capital of Iran, June 8, 2009. Thousands of backers of Mousavi formed a human chain here on Monday to support him in the presidential elections on June 12.

Ahmadinejad has won supports, as well as criticism, for his tough polices towards the West and its economic spending.

    During his current presidency since 2005, he has maintained a hard line towards the United States and Israel, who accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons. He succeeded in speeding up Iran's nuclear activities, which are allegedly for peaceful energy use, despite pressure and sanctions by the West.

    The recent overtures offered by the new U.S. administration of President Barack Obama were used by Ahmadinejad's supporters to prove the success of his tough policies.

Supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attend his last presidential campaign in Tehran, capital of Iran, on June, 10, 2009, prior to the upcoming 10th presidential election slated for Friday. Four candidates of the election -- incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei -- are racing for the presidency

But criticizers blamed Ahmadinejad for not necessarily confronting with the West powers, which boosted the U.S. success in seeking UN sanctions against Iran and somewhat affected the country's foreign relations.

    Pirali believe that Ahmadinejad will be able to speed up the cooperation between Iran and the international community.

    On the economic front, Ahmadinejad has dramatically increased government spending and has supported subsidies for lower-income families. But as Iran is suffering from soaring inflation and high unemployment, his track record in the economic filed has been a frequent target of criticism.

    "The policies of Mr. Ahmadinejad have hampered and impeded Iran, both in foreign affairs and economy," former Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi told Xinhua in a recent interview.

    "We think the people have understood these well and because of these wrong policies, they want to call for a change by the election," said Abtahi, who is now chairman of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue.

    Mousavi and the other reformist candidate, former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, have vowed to bring more freedom to the Iranian society, improve its economy and pursue a better relationship between Iran and the world, thus winning hearts of many Iranian youngsters.

    Mousavi, who served as Prime Minister from 1981 to 1989, was widely praised for his excellent management, especially handling of the country's economy during the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.

    Mousavi vows to pursue constructive interaction and a better relationship between Iran and the world, saying he is contesting the election to pursue liberty of speech and thoughts.

    He has been supported by former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, who quit this year's presidential race to pave the way for Mousavi.

    But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to fell for his close disciple Ahmadinejad, as he reportedly implied support for the incumbent president by instructing Iranian people to select a candidate who lives a simple life and refuses to yield to enemies.

    Pirali would rather play down such an advantage. "It is possible that (Khamenei) prefers a candidate in his mind, but he is in the position that he cannot show his views towards a specific candidate," he said, adding that it is the Iranian people who "decide whether a president and his plans will remain or not."

    Under Iran's system of clerical rule, it is not the president but the supreme leader who has the ultimate say on all political affairs.

    It is notable that, as Pirali stressed, no matter who wins the election, the basic principles of the Islamic regime would not be changed, as "the strategies of the regime concerning major issues are already defined" and the new president "can just influence the approaches."