Iran conservatives hope to harness popular anger to win elections

Hardliners aiming to take advantage of fury over corruption to take power and keep President Rouhani on a tight leash

"They've been stealing the money. Cut off their hands, make them pay and answer," shouted an elderly woman in a black chador, suddenly standing up at a conservative election rally in south Tehran.

Mohammad Hosseini, Iran's minister for culture and Islamic guidance from 2009 to 2013 under the then president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, replied. If elected, he said, he would always be available to his people. He even read out his phone number to the crowd to underline his sincerity.