TEHRAN, Iran - An unusual campaign season for Iran wound down Thursday, one that was defined by a field of candidates who have all emphasized moderate platforms aimed at reforming the system and yet was also marred by extraordinary violence.
There were 12 bombings in the days before today's presidential election, killing more than 10 people and injuring dozens. A campaign office was set on fire, seriously injuring at least one volunteer. People were beaten while campaigning, posters have been torn down and on Thursday, the departing president warned of a dirty tricks campaign aimed at undermining the race.
President Mohammad Khatami did not identify who is behind that campaign.
There are seven candidates in the race for president - an eighth withdrew Wednesday - and the front-runner is considered to be Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former two-term president who has run as a moderate pragmatist. None of the candidates is expected to draw more than 50 percent of the vote, the amount needed to win outright, so the contest is expected to be decided in a runoff scheduled for the following week.
The interior minister, Abdolvahid Moussavi Lari, said in a news conference on Wednesday that the bombings were not all directly linked and that only the first blasts, in Ahvaz, near the Iraqi border, were carried out by a "professional terrorist group" that had contact with people overseas. He said that there had been some arrests made in that case and that more were expected. He did not give any more details.
News reports Thursday said a previously unknown Arab group, the Arab Struggle Movement for Liberating Ahvaz, has claimed responsibility for the bombings.
Also Thursday, President Bush denounced Iran's electoral system as undemocratic and vowed that America would stand with those seeking "freedom" in the Islamic Republic. The statement amounted to a repudiation of the elections and the candidates for president.
