Political wrangle between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei begins

Iran\'s parliamentary elections opened on Friday Iran\'s parliamentary elections opened on Friday, the country\'s first major voting since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and

crackdowns that followed.
The election is expected by some to shape the political landscape for a successor to Ahmadinejad in 2013.
The balloting for the 290-member parliament is unlikely to change Tehran\'s major policies including its nuclear stand-off with the West.
In the morning hours, Iranian state TV went live from several polling stations in the capital, showing long queues of people waiting to cast their ballot. More than 48 million Iranians are eligible to vote at the nearly 47,000 polling stations across the nation.
In the absence of major reformist parties, which were kicked off the political stage over the 2009 post-election riots, Friday\'s vote is seen as a political battleground for competing conservative factions that support the country\'s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and those backing Ahmadinejad.
The two top conservative groups, which were once united, have turned against each other after crushing reformists in the upheavals that followed Ahmadinejad\'s disputed re-election.
The vote is also a precursor to next year\'s presidential election. A defeat for Ahmadinejad supporters would virtually guarantee a Khamenei loyalist as the next president and present a seamless front against Western efforts to curb Iran\'s uranium enrichment programme.
Khamenei, who has the final say on state matters, urged the nation to vote in large numbers to disappoint Iran\'s enemies.
\"Because of controversies over Iran and increased verbal threats ... the more people come to the polling stations the better,\" Khamenei said on state TV after casting his ballot in Tehran early Friday.
\"The higher turnout, the better for the future, prestige and security of our country,\" he added. \"The vote always carries a message for our friends and our enemies.\"
A high turnout will be seen as a major boost for Iran\'s ruling Islamic theocracy, showing popular support and allowing it to stand firm in the standoff over its nuclear programme. The West suspects the programme is geared toward making nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it\'s for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production. A recent IAEA report also stated that the programme was not directed towards weapons development.
US President Barack Obama recently ratched up the pressure on Iran and its nuclear programme.
Obama warned a premature attack on Iran would allow it to play the \"victim\" in the nuclear crisis, he said, in some of his toughest comments yet on Tehran\'s nuclear drive.
He also lso warned Israel and Iran should take seriously possible US action against Iranian nuclear facilities if sanctions fail to stop the country\'s atomic ambitions.
\"I think that the Israeli government recognises that, as president of the United States, I don\'t bluff,\" said Obama.
\"I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognise that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.
\"At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?\" said Obama.
Iran\'s political conservative split dates back to last year, when many conservatives turned into strong critics of Ahmadinejad after he challenged Khamenei over the choice of the intelligence chief in April and also over Ahmadinejad\'s policies.
A strong showing on Friday for Ahmadinejad\'s backers would throw him a political lifeline and the chance to exert some influence over the next presidential election. Anything less would might mean the next presidency goes to a Khamenei loyalist.
Iran\'s parliament carries more powers than most elected bodies in the Middle East, including setting budgets and having influential advisory committees such as national security and foreign affairs. The current parliament is led by a former nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.
But the chamber still lacks any direct ability to force policy decisions on Khamenei or the powerful forces under his control, including the Revolutionary Guard military establishment.