Hard-line cleric urges Iranians to vote for anti-US candidates

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A senior hard-line cleric on Friday urged Iranians to vote for anti-US candidates and alleged that a third round of UN sanctions imposed this week on Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment seeks to undermine the country's upcoming parliament elections. Ahmad Khatami said in his prayer sermon in the Iranian capital, Tehran, that the latest Security Council resolution was "hasty" and "aimed at influencing the elections ... so that people wouldn't go to the polls." But he predicted, Iranians will "rush" to the polling stations in support of those "whose record shows opposition to the United States." "Our people vote for such people," Khatami, who has opposed democratic reforms in Iran, told worshippers.