Iran Moderates Score Gains but Hard-Liner Is Reelected
Moderates scored gains over the weekend in Iranian elections seen as the first test of popular support for reformist President Hashemi Rafsanjani in his campaign to overhaul the economy.
To the delight of the radicals, however, fiercely anti-Western Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, a middle-ranking cleric, was returned to Parliament for one of Tehran’s four seats, winning a valuable platform for his militant stance on both foreign and domestic issues. But Mohtashemi’s victory appeared to be an isolated one. The election results suggested that support is waning for the radical camp opposed to the market economy pursued by Rafsanjani’s government.
Hard-liners won a majority in the general elections of June, 1988, and have dominated the 270-seat Majlis.
Mohtashemi’s election did mark a comeback for the 43-year-old Islamic fundamentalist.
Rafsanjani, leader of Tehran’s so-called pragmatists, dumped Mohtashemi and other hard-liners in August, when he formed a Cabinet dominated by technocrats designed to revitalize Iran’s economy after last year’s cease-fire in the war with Iraq.
Mohtashemi is allied with Ahmed Khomeini, son of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late revolutionary leader.
A total of 64 candidates ran for nine seats in Friday’s by-elections. The four winners in the provinces were relatively unknown figures.
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