The social networking websites which helped mobilise anti-regime protests in 2009 are buzzing again — this time urging Iranians to be sure to vote today when Iran elects a new president.

THE armoured car of one of Iran’s opposition leaders, Mehdi Karroubi, was hit by gunfire in the northern town of Qazvin, his party’s website reported yesterday, but only the windows were damaged.

IRAN’S supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president for a new four-year term, describing him as a “courageous” man but telling him to listen to his critics.

IRANIANS packed polling stations from boutique-lined streets to conservative bastions yesterday with a choice that’s left the country divided and on edge: keeping hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power or electing a reformist who favours greater freedoms and improved ties with the United States.

IRAN officials yesterday dismissed allegations of vote rigging in the presidential election, clearing the way for a run-off vote.