While the results indicate victory for the conservative wing of the regime, the official turnout is low in the history of the Islamic Republic • In the capital, 20% reached the polls

• Percentage of low voters in history // Photo: IPA

A particularly low turnout was reported on Saturday in the Majles, Iranian parliament elections, which took place yesterday, following a long-standing attempt by the regime to encourage the public to reach the polls and legitimize the process.

While the results continue to flow, a victory for the extremist faction of the conservative faction in the legislature is likely due to widespread boycott of the country's moderate public by anger at the suppression of the state's protest and the rejection of thousands of opposition candidates by the religious regime.

According to official figures, the overall turnout in the country is 40 percent, twenty percent less than the previous election and the lowest figure in Iran's history after the Islamic revolution in the country. In Tehran, a liberal stronghold, close to twenty percent of voters only registered and local polling stations were empty.

In response to the low turnout, state authorities have extended the voting time at least twice until 00:00 a night, but despite regime supporters' claims that the vote has been extended to deal with large voting rates and queues outside the polls, the dismal results published by the regime itself show that this is not the case .

Media outlets in Arab countries hostile to Tehran have announced that voting rates were even lower than the regime is willing to admit. Saudi news network "Al Arab" claimed voter turnout in Tehran capital fell below 16 percent. But even if the data presented by the regime is correct, it is a serious detriment to its prestige at home and it has been shown that a growing share of the public in the country disagrees with the regime's positions.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the Corona virus in Iran has risen to five today, the largest number of disease deaths outside China. At least ten more people were found to be ill in the country, including the mayor of Tehran's 13th district. An Iranian visitor to Iraq was today diagnosed as the first patient in the country's deadly virus.