Iran election row fires up rivals

Mr Rafsanjani remains powerful 12 years since he gave up the presidency A war of words between political rivals in Iran has intensified, two days before the country votes in presidential elections. Ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has urged the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to rein in current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In a TV election debate last week, Mr Ahmadinejad alleged that Mr Rafsanjani and other politicians were corrupt. Mr Ahmadinejad also accused rivals of lying about the state of the economy. He is thought to be in a tight race with his main rival, reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi. Two other candidates are standing. In a rally in Tehran on the last day of campaigning, attended by thousands, President Ahmadinejad lambasted his opponents, saying Iranians would "send them to the bottom of history". The BBC's John Leyne in Tehran says huge crowds have been gathering in the capital in support of rival candidates, sounding more like boisterous football crowds than election campaigners. The campaign at first appeared to be relatively dull, our correspondent says, but there has been an amazing surge of enthusiasm since the TV debates. TV request Mr Rafsanjani, who was Mr Ahmadinejad's main opponent in the 2005 elections, was himself president from 1989 to 1997 and currently heads the Expediency Council - Iran's main political arbitration body. Power of women in Iran's election In an open letter to the supreme leader published by several newspapers, he said Mr Ahmadinejad's statements threatened to undermine the Islamic revolution. He had personally told the president to take back his remarks, which he described as "irresponsible and untruthful", he said. He asked Ayatollah Khamenei to resolve the dispute. "I ask your eminence, given your position, responsibility and personality, to solve this problem and act in a way you deem right to take effective action in eliminating the mutiny," the former president said, quoted by AFP news agency. Fourteen high-ranking clerics echoed the complaint. Mr Ahmadinejad told supporters at the rally that he had asked to appear on state TV to respond to criticism by use of graphs of his handling of the economy by Mr Mousavi and another candidate, Mohsen Rezai. No decision has been taken on whether to broadcast the message. Our correspondent says if it goes ahead it is likely to upset the other candidates, who will not be able to respond themselves before campaigning ends at 0800 local time (0330 GMT) on Thursday.