Local races favor opponents of Iran leader

TEHRAN, Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffered an embarrassing blow in local council races, according to partial election results Monday, in voting viewed as a sign of public discontent with his hard-line stance.

The balloting represented a partial comeback for opponents of Ahmadinejad, whose Islamic government’s policies have fueled fights with the West and brought Iran closer to U.N. sanctions.

Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, a relative moderate, polled the most votes of any Tehran candidate to win re-election to a key Assembly post.

The biggest victory was for “moderate conservatives,” supporters of Iran’s cleric-led power structure who are angry at Ahmadinejad, saying he needlessly has provoked the West with harsh rhetoric and has failed to fix the country’s faltering economy.

The election, held Friday, does not directly affect Ahmadinejad’s administration and is not expected to bring immediate policy changes. Voters selected local councils that handle community matters in cities and towns across Iran.

But it represented the first time the public has weighed in on Ahmadinejad’s stormy presidency since he took office in June 2005. The results, if the trend holds, could pressure Ahmadinejad to change at least his tone and focus more on high unemployment and other economic problems. Full official results are expected today.

In some cities, such as Shiraz and Bandar Abbas, not one pro-Ahmadinejad candidate won a council seat, according to partial results announced by the Interior Ministry.

In Tehran, candidates supporting Mayor Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, a moderate conservative, were on track to win seven of 15 council seats. Reformists were set to win four, while Ahmadinejad’s allies had three, partial results showed. The last seat is likely to go to an independent.