TEHRAN, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran's polling stations opened on Friday morning when voters began casting ballots to choose a new president to replace Mohammad Khatami.

    Voting of Iran's ninth presidential election kicked off simultaneously at 9 o'clock local time (04:30 GMT) throughout the country with the country's Supreme Leader Supreme Leader Seyed AliKhamenei's ingratiating vote.

    As scheduled, the voting will end at 7:00 pm (1430 GMT). But itcan be extended until midnight if it necessary according to the order of the Interior Ministry in charge of the voting logistics.

    Some 46.7 million eligible voters, or all Iranians aged 15 and over, are expected to take their ballots in some 42,000 stations in schools, mosques and prayer halls across the country.

    Security is tight as tens of thousands of police and security forces are on patrol to prevent feared bomb attacks that killed up to 10 people in the past week.

    Seven candidates are competing the presidential post. They are former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Higher Education Minister Mostafa Moin, former police chief Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, former parliamentary speaker Mahdi Karroubi, former state broadcasting body chief Ali Larijani, former Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Vice President Mohsen Mehralizadeh.

    The first three have been viewed as the seeds according to recent polls.

    However, the polls showed that Rafsanjani, though remaining front runner for months, is not guaranteed to succeed, for his supporting rate has never reached 30 percent.

    According to Iran's law, if nobody garners at least 50 percent of the votes, the top two vote-getters will have to go to a runoff held one week later, which means more uncertainties due to the reshuffled voters.

    Mohsen Rezaei, former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and a dragging conservative candidate, withdrew the race at the last minute. Enditem