Iran's Mousavi: free circulation of information should notscare anybody

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TEHRAN, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The leading reformist candidate in Iran's presidential election Mir-Hossein Mousavi said Friday that free circulation of information should not scare anybody, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Talking to reporters after casting his vote in Ershad mosque of Iran's Shahr-e-Rey city, 15 kilometers south of Tehran, he said, "we should not be afraid of the free circulation of information."

He criticized the power-cut of the loudspeaker while he was speaking in the mosque and also referred to the restrictions put on the transference of the Short Message Services (SMS) and said, "I hope that by the massive voter turnout in the elections some probable problems will be solved," according to another report by local Fars News Agency.

He called this round of presidential elections in Iran an opportunity for the Islamic Republic and hoped the elections to beheld in "complete discipline and peace."

Polling stations across Iran opened Friday morning for voting in the country's presidential election which pits incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against three other candidates.

There are 46.2 million eligible voters for this year's presidential election. A total of 45,713 ballot boxes have been set up throughout the country.

Polling stations, which opened at 8 a.m. local time (0330 GMT),will close at 18:00 p.m. (1330 GMT) and could remain open till midnight in case of a high voter turnout.

Iranian police have taken strict security measures at polling stations to prevent possible outbreak of violence. Police cars are seen patrolling the streets in Tehran.

Voter turnout is expected to be higher than the last presidential election in 2005, which was 63 percent in the first round and about 48 percent in the run-off.

According to Iran's election law, any candidate who gains over 50 percent of the vote wins the presidential election. If no winner emerges in the first round, the top two candidates will contest in a run-off one week later.