Ahmadinejad congratulates Putin on election victory

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has congratulated Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on his victory in the presidential election. President Ahmadinejad issued a message on Monday to express his heartfelt congratulations to the president-elect, the Russian Federation, and nation. The Iranian president also called for the enhancement and "development of good relations" between Iran and Russia. Russians gathered in central Moscow late on Sunday to celebrate the 59-year-old’s return to the Kremlin as president for a third term. According to the official results, Putin won more than 64 percent of the vote, well ahead of his closest rival, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, who got 17.18 percent of the vote. Mikhail Prokhorov, the candidate of the pro-business political party Right Cause, received 6.79 percent of the vote, and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky finished in fourth place at 6.7 percent. Putin served as president for two consecutive four-year terms from 2000 to 2008. The victory gives him a six-year term in the Kremlin this time as a result of a constitutional amendment that increased the president’s term in office by two years.