A number of voters interviewed at the polls on Friday seemed anxious about the possibility of vote-tampering.

“I put one name in, but maybe it will change when it comes out of the box,” said Adel Shoghi, 29, who voted at a mosque in southern Tehran. Shoghi said he favoured Moussavi because Iran needed more civic freedoms, and because Ahmadinejad had worsened Iran’s pariah status internationally, making life hard for Iranians who travel.

Half an hour later, Moussavi arrived at the mosque to cast his vote. He delivered a brief speech.

“This is a golden opportunity for us,” he said. “All this unity and solidarity is the achievement of the revolution and the Islamic republic.” He left soon after, with his admirers in the courtyard still chanting, “Hail to Muhammad, the perfume of honesty and sincerity is coming.”

Ahmadinejad voted at another mosque, in southeast Tehran.

Outside a polling station in an affluent area of north Tehran, women stood in line wearing colourful headscarves, designer jeans, and sunglasses.

Opposition leaders say Moussavi, if elected, would have the advantage of a powerful popular movement behind him. Women have become a potent force in this campaign for the first time in the Islamic republic’s 30-year history.

Moussavi broke with precedent by campaigning alongside his wife, Zahra Rahnavard. Campaign rallies for Moussavi often seem to include more women — who make up half the voters in Iran — than men.

In April, a number of secular and conservative women’s groups joined forces and submitted a list of demands for greater rights from Iran’s next President.

... contd.