Early returns Saturday from Iran’s parliamentary election indicate the country will likely usher in a new era with reformists and moderate conservatives creating a friendly venue for President Hassan Rouhani to pursue his political agenda.

Reuters news service reports that reformists won 29 of the 30 parliament seats reserved for Tehran, according to early results released Saturday.  Hardliners won the other seat.

Preliminary results from Tehran in voting for the Assembly of Experts also showed moderates doing well there. The assembly monitors the work of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on Iran’s foreign policy, and could choose the next supreme leader.

Iran’s official media on Saturday quoted Rouhani as saying the election has given the government more credibility and clout.

“The competition is over. It’s time to open a new chapter in Iran’s economic development based on domestic abilities and international opportunities,” the official IRNA news agency reported him as saying.

Election seen as test of nuclear deal

The vote was the first election since the country’s nuclear deal with world powers took effect.

The final results may provide the first clue as to whether key Western proponents of the deal will receive what they hoped for; a more open, moderate Iran.

The outcome could be interpreted as a comment on the level of support for the policies of Rouhani, who is up for re-election next year. Rouhani has made the nuclear agreement a key objective of his administration.

Large turnout

Newspapers reported a huge turnout at the polls turnout, including many young voters, Reuters said.

Polls had been scheduled to close at 6:00 p.m., but remained open much later, in some cases. State television showed long lines both in Tehran and in polling places around the country.

Some 55 million Iranians were registered to cast ballots for members of the conservative-dominated 290-seat parliament as well as the 88-member Assembly of Experts.

Voting for future

Iranian State TV called Friday a “great day for the nation,” as citizens across the country turned out to vote for the country’s parliament and the Guardian Council, which selects Iran’s Supreme Leader.

State TV showed voters across Iran giving their reasons for their choices.  A man with a young child said he was “voting for his children’s future,” while an older woman said she wanted to “foil Iran’s enemies, who are plotting against the country.”

A correspondent for Iran’s Al Alam TV at a major Tehran polling station said turnout was “beyond expectations,” and that “long lines of voters had shown up,” to “express their support for their country and its Islamic system.”

Bani Sadr: voters ‘apathetic’

Former Iranian president Abolhassan Bani Sadr, who lives in exile in Paris, disputed reports of long lines, telling VOA that voters were “apathetic” in many places.

He says that reports he had received from inside the country indicate that apart from several “showcase” polling stations in the capital, turnout at other places was often no more than several dozen people.

Political analyst Mohamed Ali Mirzani told the TV Iranian electors like to vote at odds to the way foreign countries want them to vote in order to quash threats posed from abroad.  He said voters know their participation is important in deciding the fate of their country.
…