Iran to hold presidential election in June 2009

By Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hold its 2009 presidential election on June 12, when conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely expected to stand for a second four-year term despite criticism over his economic policies.

Iranian media said on Sunday the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, and the Interior Ministry had agreed on the date, when parliament mid-term polls will also be organised.

"The 10th presidential election ... will be held on the 22nd of Khordad of next year," election headquarters head Alireza Afshar told the Fars News Agency, referring to the number of such elections in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Iranian month of Khordad ends on June 21 in 2009.

Even though Iran's nuclear row with the West dominates headlines abroad, analysts predict that the economy and rising inflation in the world's fourth-largest oil exporter will be the main issues in the election campaign.

Some said Ahmadinejad may face challenges both from conservative critics and reformist rivals, but that he would have a good chance of re-election as he enjoys the apparent support of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad, who says Iran will never back down in the dispute over its nuclear programme, won the 2005 vote on a pledge to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly and to revive the values of the revolution almost three decades ago.