TEHRAN: Reformist and moderate Iranian politicians allied with President Hassan Rouhani won a big victory in second round parliamentary elections and capped a remarkable comeback Saturday after years of isolation.
The outcome represents a significant realignment of competing factions in Iran, with conservative MPs losing their dominance and being outnumbered for the first time since 2004.
It was also an implicit public vote of confidence in Rouhani, who won a landslide election victory in 2013 and went on to clinch a historic deal with world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program that lifted sanctions.
Official results also showed 17 women were elected — eight more than at present and the highest female representation since the country’s revolution in 1979.
Almost a quarter of Parliament’s seats were at stake in run-offs Friday in what was a showdown between reformists and conservatives seeking to influence the country’s future.
Although Iran’s parliament has marginal powers — under the country’s theocratic rule clerics can veto legislation — the result will help the government deliver economic reforms such as a new oil contracts law that could tempt foreign majors. It could also speed up social change demanded by reformists.
Their return as a major force is a shake up for hard-liners in Tehran after an era of diplomatic clashes with the West over a nuclear program that, before Rouhani, had left Iran under threat of military attack.
Rouhani allies win Parliament elections
Rouhani allies win Parliament elections
