Conservative Tehran Mayor Wins Upset Victory in Iran Run-Off Presidential Election

Tehran's conservative mayor won an upset victory in Iran's run-off presidential election on Friday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad garnered 62 percent of 28 million votes, beating reformist former-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

In his first press conference as president-elect, Ahmadinejad backed up Iran's nuclear program but said he would continue negotiations with three European nations.

While Rafsanjani said in his campaign that he would work to improve relations with the United States, Ahmadinejad announced he would not seek rapprochement.

* Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, news conference in Tehran, June 26, 2005.

Ahmadinejad rode to victory on a populist platform appealing to working people and the many young people affected by Iran's high rate of unemployment.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld followed up on the early dismissal of the elections by Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice and President Bush.

* Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking on Fox News, June 26, 2005.

While Ahmadinejad's victory was overwhelming, there have been some charges of vote rigging. Reform candidate Mehdi Karroubi resigned from two high-ranking government posts last week after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refused to investigate allegations of irregularities. Ahmadinejad also had help from the Basij Islamist volunteer militia, which worked to turn out voters.

Reformists are calling the victory a coup for the elite theocracy, though no one is entirely sure how Ahmadinejad will come down on civil liberties and women's rights.

He has long worked with some of Iran's country's most conservative institutions, from the Basij to the Revolutionary Guards. His victory gives conservatives control of Iran's two highest elected offices - the presidency and parliament. When he takes office in August, Ahmedinejad will be Iran's first non-cleric president for 24 years.

* Ervand Abrahamian, Professor of Middle Eastern and Iranian history at Baruch College, City University of New York. He is the author of several books on Iran including "Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic" and "The Iranian Mojahedin."
* Norman Solomon, of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He was in Tehran, Iran for the first round of presidential elections. His latest book is "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death."

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