Iranians Voting In Close Race

Many Young People Call For Boycott To Protest Cleric-Run System

(AP) 
Rafsanjani has portrayed himself as the most experienced figure to handle the sensitive nuclear talks. Washington claims Iran seeks nuclear arms, but Iran say the program is only for energy production.

"I hope we have a fair election, free of manipulation," Rafsanjani said.

Rafsanjani is expected to receive about 45 percent of the vote, short of the mark needed to claim victory, according to campaign manager Mohammed Atrianfar.

Soaring temperatures that hovered around 105 degrees in some parts of Iran had local authorities moving lines of the elderly voters indoors. There were some 41,000 polling stations around Iran, as well as 254 polling stations in other countries — including three in neighboring Iraq and 36 in the United States — where millions of expatriate Iranians can vote.

"This is more than just who will be president," said Saeed Hajjarian, a top adviser to outgoing President Khatami. "This is how Iran will proceed in a very delicate time for this region."

Security forces were on high alert in Iran, but there were no immediate reports of unrest or violence. On Sunday, eight people in the southwestern oil city of Ahvaz were killed in a bombing claimed by previously unknown pro-Arab group. Two others died in explosions in Tehran the same day.

In Iraq, about 12,000 Iranians are expected to vote, Iranian diplomats said.

"We are expecting a big turnout today." said Saeed Khalil Sadati Amin, a diplomat at the Iranian Consulate in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.

Basra is Iraq's second-largest city and is home to about 3,000 Iranians. Most are women married to Iraqis who had been expelled by Saddam Hussein. The rest are businessmen.

Three polling centers have been opened in Iraq, one in the capital, one in the south and one in the north.