Ahmadinejad leads Iran´s presidential election poll by big margin

Source: Xinhua | 05-13-2009 07:32

TEHRAN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A recent poll shows that Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is leading Iran's presidential election poll by big margin, Iran's satellite Press TV reported on Tuesday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holds up his identification as he waits to register as candidate for President of Iran in the Interior Ministry building in Tehran May 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

A recent nationwide poll showed that the Iranian president's popularity has grown among the electorate, while support for his rival, Mir-Hossein Mousavi has remained unchanged, the report said.

"The opinion poll conducted in Tehran as well as 29 other provincial capitals and 32 important cities on May 3-4, indicates that 58.6 percent will cast their ballots in favor of Ahmadinejad, while some 21.9 percent will vote for Mousavi."

According to the Press TV report, in another more recent poll carried out in Tehran, 44.8 percent of respondents said that given a choice of Ahmadinejad or Mousavi, they would opt for the Principalist incumbent president while some 29 percent said they would pick Mousavi.