Iran's supreme leader calls for high turnout in poll

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Wednesday called for high turnout in the upcoming presidential vote, reported Xinhua citing the semi-official Fars news agency.

High public turnout in the election will enable the next president to stand firm and strong against enemies, Khamenei was quoted as saying.

"The international scene is not the scene of hesitation and shyness and the more you show weakness and withdraw, the more the enemies will move forward," he said, persuading people to decisively cast their ballot.

Earlier, Khamenei said that Western countries want to discourage the Iranians from voting in the presidential election.

Nearly 50.5 million Iranians are eligible to vote for their presidential candidates Friday.