The conservatives in Iran are in the lead, according to the first results of the legislative elections published on Saturday February 22, an advance favored by a probable weak participation consecutive to the disqualification of thousands of candidates.
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The elections were held Friday against the backdrop of a severe economic recession, due in part to US sanctions, and heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, sworn enemies.
Before the vote, almost half of the 16,000 candidates had been invalidated, including those of thousands of reformers and moderates, which practically reduced the ballot to a clash between conservatives and ultra-conservatives.
Observers predicted heavy abstention, with the population having lost their illusions following unfulfilled promises from politicians and trying to cope with difficult living conditions.
The National Elections Committee reported that votes had been counted in 162 of 208 constituencies nationwide.
The alliance formed by the conservatives and the ultra-conservatives seemed to have a comfortable advantage in Tehran according to the first results, said the spokesman of the committee Esmaïl Moussavi on state television.
The final results for Tehran and other provinces will be revealed Sunday morning at the latest.
If these initial results are confirmed, it would be a major blow for moderate President Hassan Rohani, whose room for maneuver will be limited until the end of his mandate in 2021.
According to unofficial figures released by Fars, the conservative coalition won 191 of the 290 seats in the new parliament. The reformers won 16 and the independents 34.
Fars news agency reported that 1.9 million people voted in Tehran out of the capital's more than nine million voters, where many appear to have boycotted the poll.