Rouhani allies win all 30 seats in Tehran

With 44 per cent of votes counted the pro-Rouhani List of Hope was ahead in all but one seat in the capital, with the head of the rival conservative slate the only candidate blocking a complete rout.

Meanwhile, local media said the first results from Friday’s parliamentary election showed a split of the 290 seat legislature among conservatives, reformists and independent candidates.

Friday’s election was the first since last summer’s agreement was finalized, lifting global economic sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program.

Rouhani and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani are leading in the parallel race to the Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body that appoints the country’s supreme leader.

In many ways, this election is seen as a referendum on President Rouhani, a moderate who campaigned on a reformist platform before his 2013 election.

Supporters of Rouhani, who championed the nuclear deal, were pitted against hard-liners close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who are deeply wary of detente with Western countries.

Although the final results are yet to be announced, preliminary data shows that reformist-backed candidates aligned with President Hassan Rouhani won all 30 parliamentary seats in Tehran.

As the day went on, Iranians waited patiently in long lines outside polling stations to cast ballots, with whole families coming together with their young children.

Just one prominent hardliner was on course to be elected in the experts assembly race in Tehran – Ahmad Jannati, in 15th place out of the 16 seats reserved for the capital’s candidates.

The Assembly of Experts is also a high-ranking body that elects and oversees the activities of the leader of the Islamic Revolution.

“The competition is over”, Rouhani was quoted as saying.

This victory for pro-reform forces comes at a sensitive time when the government of Mr Rouhani hopes to open up the country to foreign investments but hardliners are proving a huge hindrance.

A substantial reformist bloc could herald a major shift in Iran’s internal politics.

“The people showed their power once again and gave more credibility and strength to their elected government”, Rouhani said, adding he would work with anyone who won election to build a future for the country of 80 million, where almost 60 percent of the population is under 30. It was not immediately clear what percentage of eligible voters that figure represents.

“Iranian voters delivered a strong message to the elite that political and social aspirations that have always been unmet need to be addressed more robustly”, Marashi said.

In Meydan Beheshti Square, a mainly conservative neighbourhood, Reza Ganjialilu, a 28-year-old employee at an electronics shop said he did not favour the reformists.

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told a press conference in Tehran on Saturday that vote counting in Tehran is still under way and will not end any sooner than late Monday, FARS news agency reported. Thousands of candidates were blocked from running by an unelected, conservative 12-member group called the Guardian Council.