Pat Dollard

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Well the polls have closed In Iran. Turnout was massive and could break records. Crowds formed quickly at many voting sites in areas considered both strongholds for Ahmadinejad and his main rival, reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi, who served as prime minister in the 1980s and has become the surprise hero of a powerful youth-driven movement. At several polling stations in Tehran, mothers held their young children in their arms as they waited in long lines.

“I hope to defeat Ahmadinejad today,” said Mahnaz Mottaghi, 23, after casting her ballot at a mosque in central Tehran.

Outside the same polling station, 29-year-old Abbas Rezai said he, his wife and his sister-in-law all voted for Ahmadinejad.

“We will have him as a president for another term, for sure,” he said.

As the most tumultuous campaign in the Islamic Republic’s 30-year history drew to a close, Mir Hossein Mousavi, the incumbent’s strongest challenger, appealed to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian Supreme Leader, to ensure that the election was fair.

Those close to Mousavi went further, claiming that Ahmadinejad could win only by cheating — and that this could spark riots and chaos on the streets.
Saeed Laylaz, a political consultant, said he feared a “Tiananmen Square-style experience,” with the military moving in to crush any protests.

Such warnings were lent credence by Yadollah Javani, a leader of the hard-line Republican Guard, who has vowed to suppress any attempt by Mousavi’s reformist supporters to mount a “velvet revolution” after the election.

Officials expect a near-record turnout of the 46 million eligible voters after an extraordinary campaign marked by vast rallies, all-night revelry on the streets of Tehran and unprecedented infighting among the Iranian political elite.