Iran vote brings tense stand-off

Iran’s presidential election was heading for a tense stand-off on Friday night as state news agencies declared Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the firebrand incumbent, had been re-elected with more than half the ballot, while his closest challenger alleged widespread fraud.

Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the moderate former prime minister, claimed he had actually won the election and appealed to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “not to allow irregularities”.

A landslide victory for Mr Ahmadi-Nejad would enrage a large part of the Iranian population because it would appear to contradict the huge street rallies that had been taking place every night, as people expressed their dissatisfaction with the current government and cheered on Mr Moussavi.