Iran’s hardliners win election by large margin, says Mehr

TEHRAN: Iranian hardliners won a majority in parliamentary elections, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency, sweeping Tehran and other cities in a repudiation of President Hassan Rouhani’s engagement with outside powers.

Mehr didn’t give a final breakdown, saying that more than 220 out of 290 members of parliament will be hardliners and conservatives. The official turnout was 42.5%, the lowest in the history of the Islamic Republic.

The election had been widely predicted to hand control of the legislature to conservatives empowered by instability and economic damage triggered by US policies. Participation was held back by the powerful Guardian Council’s disqualification of hundreds of moderates and reformists.


Hard-liners and conservatives won all 30 seats in Tehran, the largest and most influential constituency, Fars said Saturday after polls closed at midnight. They also dominated in Esfahan, Khuzestan, Mazandaran and several other provinces, Mehr reported. Participation was held back by the powerful Guardian Council's disqualification of hundreds of moderates and reformists, Rouhani’s loss of political credibility as the US reimposed sanctions, and a reported surge in coronavirus cases in Iran this week.