Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the upcoming presidential campaigning this year is the most tense political event that the country has ever experienced.
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Iranian President and candidate for the upcoming presidential election Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to supporters before addressing them in front of the Sharif University in Tehran June 10, 2009.[Xinhua]
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The conservative and the reformist camps confronted one another, gearing up rhetorics of accusing each other and making the atmosphere increasingly tense in the run-up to the voting on Friday.
As a sign of open and competitive condition, Iran's state television, for the first time, managed a series of debates between the four candidates: incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaei.
The debates, not just aiming at clarifying the positions and programs of the candidates, were also used by the candidates to publicize the political, social, economic and even personal downsides of each other for the sake of gaining points.
The incumbent president was almost the target of all the attacks by the three other rivals.
Mousavi, the major challenger to Ahmadinejad, lashed out at the government's tough foreign polices, especially concerning Israel, that he said had caused "global consensus against Iran".
He also accused Ahmadinejad of "twisting the truth" on the economic and social growth figures and achievement statistics represented to the public.
Karroubi, another reformist rival, highlighted Ahmadinejad's failure on providing the social freedom, "falsifying the economic figures and developing superstitions."
