Birjand, Iran News

The stakes are high in Iran's presidential elections on Friday, and the supporters of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are feeling the pressure. If they had any doubt about this one-time Ahmadinejad stronghold, the eastern city of Birjand today exposes the cultural fault lines in the president's battle for reelection.

Fellow hard-line conservatives champion the president's piety and support of the poor, while moderates feel an increasingly urgent need to pull the country back from the brink of economic meltdown and political isolation.

I haven't seen polls in awhile, and am unsure how reliable they would be anyway, but coverage strongly suggests that Mir Hussein Mousavi is on course to become Iran's next president.

As he arrived in Birjand Friday, Iran's top presidential challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi , is greeted by supporters marking his car with bloody handprints from a cow sacrificed in his honor and for his protection.

The federal government is revamping Canada's citizenship program to include greater emphasis on the country's "values," federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Tuesday.

The following photos show the aftermath of the recent flooding in the town of Tabas-Masina in Iran's South Khorasan province.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a speech during a visit, on Nov. 7, 2007, to the city of Birjand, 620 miles east of Tehran, Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a speech during a visit, on November 7, 2007 to the city of Birjand, 620 miles east of Tehran, Iran.

Iran - Earthquake - South Khorassan An earthquake measuring 3.6 degrees on Richter scale jolted surrounding areas of Birjand city, capital of South Khorassan province, on Wednesday evening.