DUSHANBE, February 29, 2016, Asia-Plus – International media outlets report that allies of Iran”s reformist President Hassan Rouhani have won a landslide victory in Tehran, in the first parliamentary vote since Iran signed a nuclear deal with world powers.
According to
BBC
, with 90% of the votes counted, the pro-Rouhani List of Hope is set to take all 30 parliamentary seats in the capital.
The leading conservative candidate Gholamali Haddad-Adel is in 31st place.
Millions voted on Friday to elect the 290-seat parliament as well as members of the Assembly of Experts.
The 88-member assembly appoints Iran”s Supreme Leader and might end up choosing a successor to Ayatollah Khamenei, who is 76 and has suffered ill-health,
BBC
reports.
Reuters
reports the polls for parliament and a leadership body were seen by analysts as a potential turning point for Iran, where nearly 60 percent of its 80 million population is under 30 and eager to engage with the world following the lifting of most sanctions.
A loosening of control by the anti-Western hardliners who currently dominate both bodies reportedly could strengthen Rouhani”s hand to open Iran further to foreign trade and investment following last year”s breakthrough nuclear deal.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a powerful hardline paramilitary organization close to Khamenei, issued a statement praising the turnout and implicitly accepting the results, but it too described the anti-U.S. stance it would like to see.
“The election winners will do their best to protect Iran”s dignity, power and independence; resolve the main issues for society and the people; and defeat the global arrogance by their awareness and wisdom,” it said, referring to the United States.
