Tensions rise in run-up to Iran elections

TEHRAN, June 11 (UPI) -- Accusations flew and tensions grew in the run-up to the presidential election in Iran, as candidates ramped up the rhetoric before the polls open Friday.

In Tehran, thousands of protesters marched on the state television center Wednesday, angered after learning President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had substantially more airtime than his opponents, The Times of London reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, a leader of the hardline Revolutionary Guard said reformists would claim the vote was rigged if their candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's strongest challenger, loses the election.

Hojatoleslam Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president and powerful cleric, complained in an open letter to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, about corruption allegations Ahmadinejad raised against his family during a televised debate last week. Rafsanjani, who backs Mousavi, warned that a failure to act against the "lies" could spark social unrest.

Before a packed, frenetic crowd of supporters Wednesday, Ahmadinejad criticized Mousavi and his links to Rafsanjani, seen as the embodiment of the corrupt elite, the British newspaper said.

The complaints and protests come on the eve of a potentially historic election in which Mousavi, who has gained momentum recently, could become the first challenger to defeat an incumbent president in the Iranian Republic's 30-year history, the Times said.