Support for a moderate challenge to Iran’s leader

          
          Support for Moderate a Challenge to Ir...
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          TABRIZ, Iran — The strongest challenger to President Mahmoud
          Ahmadinejad attracted an unusually large and exuberant crowd of
          supporters on Monday during a campaign speech in this northwest
          city near the candidate's birthplace, with only a few weeks before
          national elections that the incumbent stands a serious chance of
          losing.
          Related
          Times Topics: Iran
          
          TURKEY , AZERMIJAN
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          The New York Times
          An estirrated 3D,DDD people attended
          the rally in Tabriz.
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          The crowd for the challenger, Mir
          Hussein Moussavi , was extraordinary
          not only for its size — an estimated
          30,000 — but also because the ______________
          supporters were not paid, given free
          food, bused in or ordered by their workplaces to attend, a
          tactic sometimes used by Mr. Ahmadinejad's campaign.
          Many traveled here in private cars and learned about the
          rally despite new government restrictions on Facebook , the
          social networking site, which Mr. Moussavi's campaign had
          been using to spread word of his candidacy among the
          country's predominantly young electorate. The supporters
          gave a rousing welcome to Mr. Moussavi, who was born in
          Khameneh, a small town in the Azerbaijan area of Iran.
          “Azerbaijan is my home; Moussavi is my life!” they
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          8/10/2010
          Support for Moderate a Challenge to Iran's Leader
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          “A better choice for the
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          Newsha Tavakolin lPolaris, for ,, New York Times
          Supporters welcorred Mir Hussein Moussavi, a challenger to President Mahnoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday in Tabriz, Iran.
          Dy NAZILA FATHI
          Published: May 25, 20D9 FACEEOOK
          nytimes.com/2009/05/26/. . ./26iran .ht...
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          8/10/2010 Support for Moderate a Challenge to Ir...
          chanted to him in their native dialect, Turkish Azeri.
          Mr. Moussavi's appearance here was the first stop of a two-day tour of northwestern Iran,
          part of his effort to attract the votes of 15 million Turkish speakers around the country,
          nearly one-third of eligible voters, before the June 12 vote.
          “People of Tabriz and Azerbaijan have changed the fate of this country several times,” Mr.
          Moussavi said, referring to several historic revolts against the central government in the
          region.
          “They have always resisted dictatorship.” ___________
          Mr. Moussavi, a former prime minister whose moderate views have won him support
          from other reformers in Iran including former President Mohammad Khatami , has _____
          positioned himself as the strongest challenger to Mr. Ahmadinejad, a religious
          conservative whose backing by the Islamic authorities here has weakened and who is now
          widely criticized for I ran's economic malaise.
          If elected, Mr. Moussavi told supporters here, he would enforee the constitutional law that
          allows the ethnic languages of different regions to be taught at sehools, something Mr.
          Ahmadinejad has not done. Mr. Moussavi told the voters, “Your vote is crucial in the
          elections.”
          Ms. Rahnavard, a former dean of a women's university in Tehran and a seulptor, is also
          seen on Mr. Moussavi's posters holding hands with him, a somewhat daring image in a
          country where public mingling of the sexes is repressed under strict Islamic socinl
          etiquette.
          Mr. Moussavi is considered the most serious threat to Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election
          among the three challengers. The other two, Mehdi Karroubi, a reformist candidate, and
          Mohsen Rezai, a former leader of the Revolutionary Guards , have lagged in voter opinion
          polls.
          Mr. Abmadinejad stifi has considerable support among Turkish speakers, especially in poor
          rural villages. Many low-income Iranians voted for Mr. Ahmadinejad four years ago
          because of his pledges to raise their standards of living.
          Hassan Nazari, 75, a supporter of Mr. Ahmadinejad in Tabriz, said Monday that he would
          vote for Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election because Mr. Nazari's salary had increased nearly
          five times and the lives of people in rural areas had improved.
          All three challengers to Mr. Ahmadinejad say his effort to help the poor is little more than
          charity and vote buying. They have accused him of handing out loans and money instead
          of investing in major development projects.
          Newspapers in Tran reported that students protested in Tehran after Mr. Ahmadinejad's
          government distributed 3,000 traveler's checks of $so each among the students last week.
          Mr. Moussavi's supporters have been chanting “death to the government of potato,”
          referring to Mr. Ahmadinejad's distribution of 400,000 tons of free potatoes around the
          country.
          A version of this article appeared in print on May 26, 2009, on page AS More Articles in World))
          of the New York edition.
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          His wife, Zahra Rahnavard, who has been at the forefront of his campaign, said in a
          meeting with women that she favored monogamy — although polygamy is allowed under
          the law — and more rights for women. She is the first candidate's wife to campaign since
          the 1979 Tslamic Revolution.
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          Past Coverage
          Iranian Candidate Taps Student Woes (May 31, 2009)
          Big Crowd for Moderate Reflects Serious Challenge to Iran's Leader (May 26, 2009)
          Iranian Presidential Candidate Calls Ahmadinejad an Extremist (April 7, 2009)
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