Reformists crush forecasts, lead Iran polls with 29 of 30 seats in Tehran

The provisional result of the parliamentary elections in Iran smashed forecasts and Saturday awarded 29 of the 30 seats in Tehran to reformists and moderates, a hard blow to the “principalist” sectors might might lose their majority in the Parliament.

At the end of a long day of counting, an Interior Ministry spokesperson announced the provisional results of the vote in Tehran, the largest constituency in the country, giving an overwhelming victory to the list led by Mohammad Reza Aref, former vicepresident under the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami (20012005).

So far, the count has painted a new picture of legislative power in the Islamic Republic to the detriment of the conservatives, who continue to hold a majority with 167 legislators.

Keeping this result would lead to a virtual tie in the Parliament, nullifying any attempt to attack the policies of President Hassan Rouhani.

In addition, it would be a big coup for this group, whose candidates were vetted in large numbers by the Guardian Council to participate in this vote.

Moreover, it marks the entry into Parliament of a key figure of the reformist movement, Mohammad Reza Aref.

Another central figure of the movement, Ali Motahari, legislator and the country’s most active voice on rehabilitation of leaders of the “green” movement and greater social and political freedoms, won second place and received an important political boost.

Khatami is also expected to move into the Parliament, along with reformist candidates who were imprisoned after the 2009 election riots.

All reformist candidates that EFE tried to contact after the results had their phones switched off, and only one responded through an assistant saying “it is still not time to make statements.”

In the polling stations throughout the capital, particularly in the affluent north, voters did nothing to hide the massive support for Rouhani, while the “principalistas” were conspicuous by their absence.

“We estimate that in the north 90% of the people voted for us. In other parts of the city around 8070% and on the outskirts a little less than 50%,” a reformist candidate told EFE hours before these results came out.

This support was extended to former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, Rouhani and their candidates for the Assembly of Experts who won 14 of the 16 seats.

Voting for this Assembly of Experts, composed of 88 Shia clerics and charged with the responsibility of choosing a new Supreme Leader in case of a vacancy, is expected to be decisive for the coming years, given that the current leader, Ali Khamenei is 77 years old.

Official estimates of the turnout amounted to around 33 million, approximately 60 percent of the census.

Polling stations in Tehran closed Friday after nearly 16 hours of voting and five extensions of the schedule due to the large voter turnout.