Iran elections have history of dark horses

Teheran

ELECTION season is under way in Iran and the rumour mill is in overdrive as the public tries to divine the backroom machinations that have thrown up major surprises in the past.

"I looked back at the cables our embassy was sending out just a few weeks before the last election," said a Western diplomat in Teheran.

"None of them were predicting (Hassan) Rouhani would win," she laughed, referring to the current president.

Mr Rouhani, a moderate cleric with a long history in Iran's security apparatus, won the 2013 vote af…