Iranian reformists set to win all Tehran parliamentary seats

Partial election results indicate that Iranian reformists will win all 30 parliamentary seats in Tehran, handing hard-liners an embarrassing defeat.

The head of the conservative list, Gholam-Ali Hadad Adel, a former parliament speaker, was lagging behind in 31st place in Tehran and set to lose his seat, an interior ministry statement quoted by state television said.

Rouhani and Rafsanjani led the race for the Assembly of Experts with most votes counted, and appeared to be sure of winning seats, early results released on Saturday showed.

The assembly election is important because should Khamenei, who is 76, die during its eight-year term, its 88 members would pick his successor.

“In the current highly sensitive situation in the region (where) insecurity has engulfed some countries, the lively holding of the elections of the Assembly of Experts and Majlis (parliament) in a completely calm and orderly atmosphere can serve as a model of democracy for nations”, he said.

A strong reformist showing would be a boost for moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who championed the newly implemented Iranian nuclear deal with world powers in the face of harsh hard-line opposition. USA officials had hoped the deal would strengthen President Hassan Rouhani and other moderates, paving the way for greater cooperation on other regional issues.

The gains would be a sharp change in Iran’s parliament, the AP notes: “Reformists now hold fewer than 20 seats and have been virtually shut out of politics since losing their parliamentary majority in the 2004 elections”.

A breakdown of the results had independents on 44, reformists on 79, and hardliners on 106, the tally showed.

Outside Tehran, where 108 seats out of 260 have been declared so far, 33 went to the main conservative list and 24 to the reformist List of Hope.

In the capital Tehran, 13 out of the top 16 Assembly of Experts candidates were on a list supported by Rafsanjani, media reports said.

The results were initially announced as final in an official statement.

Rafsanjani called for national unity following the divisive vote, according to Iran’s state-run news agency, IRNA. Participation figures were not immediately available, but Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli on Saturday said turnout likely exceeded 60 percent based on the partial counting of the votes.

One of those who may yet lose his seat is Ahmad Jannati, who as head of the unelected Guardian Council was responsible for the disqualification of hundreds of moderate candidates ahead of the elections.

Reformists last rose to power with the 1997 election of President Mohammad Khatami, followed by 2000 parliamentary elections that brought a reformist majority for the first time.

Voters: Nearly 55 million people were registered to vote; the country has a population of about 80 million people. Ahmadinejad’s election victory in 2005 sealed the movement’s downfall.