Iran is to hold presidential elections on Friday
Friday's presidential election in Iran is unlikely to bring significant change to the Islamic republic, whose supreme leader has ensured hardline candidates dominate the field. But the sole moderate could yet upset the race, the Reuters reports.
World powers embroiled in talks with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme are looking for signs of a recalibration of its negotiating position after eight years of inflexibility under fiery populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran's uncompromising nuclear negotiator Saed Jalili is prominent among four hardliners competing for the post, while one of his predecessors, the more conciliatory Hassan Rohani, has been endorsed by reformists after moderate former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was barred.