Final campaigning for Iran's presidential poll has been overshadowed by a row over accusations made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.Huge crowds have been gathering on the streets, as rival candidates hold their last election rallies. In a letter published by several media, ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to rein in the president. Mr Ahmadinejad alleged Mr Rafsanjani and other politicians were corrupt. He is thought to be in a tight race with his main rival, reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi. Two other candidates are standing.
Final campaigning for Iran's presidential poll has been overshadowed by a row over accusations made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Huge crowds have been gathering on the streets, as rival candidates hold their last election rallies.
In a letter published by several media, ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to rein in the president.
Mr Ahmadinejad alleged Mr Rafsanjani and other politicians were corrupt.
He is thought to be in a tight race with his main rival, reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi. Two other candidates are standing.
Zahra Rahnavard could turn the tide in Friday's elections in Iran. The former university chancellor is the wife of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and her popularity with Iranian women could be his secret weapon against President Ahmadinejad. Even before Zahra Rahnavard had arrived, it was clear that this woman was an important figure in the Iranian election campaign. The team working for the election of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had only expected a few journalists to turn up to his wife's press conference. In the end 150 gathered to hear her speak. Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, has become a major factor in the Iranian campaign. Since the revolution in 1979 no other political spouse has been so much in the public eye. Rahnavard is even featured in her husband's election posters: she stands next to him, holding his hand. In Iran's strict Muslim society this alone is nothing short of spectacular. She wears her black chador loosely and instead of a plain scarf, hers is printed with a colorful floral pattern. Thousands of copies of the poster can be seen across Tehran in the run up to Friday's presidential election. Mousavi's strategy of bringing his wife into the campaign could ultimately tip the vote in his favor. People see the image of Rahnaward standing next to her husband as an equal as a kind of election promise. Many, and not just Iran's women, hope that if this reformist candidate wins, it could mark a new era of personal freedoms.
Zahra Rahnavard could turn the tide in Friday's elections in Iran. The former university chancellor is the wife of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and her popularity with Iranian women could be his secret weapon against President Ahmadinejad.
Even before Zahra Rahnavard had arrived, it was clear that this woman was an important figure in the Iranian election campaign. The team working for the election of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had only expected a few journalists to turn up to his wife's press conference. In the end 150 gathered to hear her speak.
Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, has become a major factor in the Iranian campaign. Since the revolution in 1979 no other political spouse has been so much in the public eye. Rahnavard is even featured in her husband's election posters: she stands next to him, holding his hand. In Iran's strict Muslim society this alone is nothing short of spectacular. She wears her black chador loosely and instead of a plain scarf, hers is printed with a colorful floral pattern. Thousands of copies of the poster can be seen across Tehran in the run up to Friday's presidential election.
Mousavi's strategy of bringing his wife into the campaign could ultimately tip the vote in his favor. People see the image of Rahnaward standing next to her husband as an equal as a kind of election promise. Many, and not just Iran's women, hope that if this reformist candidate wins, it could mark a new era of personal freedoms.
