Iran election race tightest since the Islamic Revolution

IRANIANS went to the polls yesterday in a high-stakes election shaping up as the closest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with young people disillusioned by the theocracy calling for a boycott of the balloting.

None of the seven candidates is expected to get the 50% support needed to win outright, meaning the two top vote-getters will likely meet in a run-off election.

Reformers won the past two presidential votes in landslides - but their supporters have been alienated after hardliners blocked outgoing President Mohammad Khatami's attempts at change.