Iran's Ahmadinejad urges reconciliation after polls

TEHRAN - President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday urged Iranians to put aside their differences after winning a divisive presidential run-off which split the country broadly along class lines.

"Today is a day when we have to forget all our rivalries and turn them into friendships," Ahmadinejad said in comments broadcast on state radio, his first since being declared winner of yesterday's election.

"We are one nation and one big family. We should help each other to make a great society," he said.

"Our main goal today is to create an Islamic, exemplary, advanced and powerful nation," he added in the recorded address, which contained no policy statements.

Official election results show the ultra-conservative Tehran mayor comfortably defeated experienced political heavyweight Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, securing some 62 per cent of ballots cast.

Analysts say Ahmadinejad, 48, earned the support of the religious urban and rural poor. Rafsanjani, 70, in contrast, drew heavy support from wealthier Iranians fearful that Ahmadinejad would enforce strict Islamic moral codes and further isolate the country from the West.

"I am certainly proud to be elected by the Iranian people. But more than that, I am proud to be able to work for Iran, now at the municipality and as president in the future," he said.

Ahmadinejad will take up office in August.

"I feel the heavy weight of responsibilities on my shoulders," he added.

- REUTERS