BICOM

Polls opened in Iran today for parliamentary elections, the country’s first major vote since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and government crackdowns that followed.

The balloting for the 290-member parliament is unlikely to change Iran’s course over major policies, including its nuclear standoff with the West, but it may shape the political landscape for a successor to Ahmadinejad in 2013. In the absence of major reformist parties, which have been prevented from organising since the 2009 post-election unrest, Friday’s vote is seen as a political battleground for competing conservative factions that support the country’s 
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and those backing Ahmadinejad.

A defeat for Ahmadinejad supporters would virtually guarantee a Khamenei loyalist as the next president and present a seamless front against Western efforts to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment programme.

The split between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei dates back to last year, when many conservatives turned into strong critics of the President after he challenged the Supreme Leader’s choice for intelligence chief.

Iran’s parliament carries more powers than most elected bodies in the Middle East, including setting budgets and having influential advisory committees, such as national security and foreign affairs. Nevertheless, the chamber still lacks any direct ability to force policy decisions on Khamenei or the powerful forces under his control, including the Revolutionary Guard military establishment.