Reformists gain ground in vote as Iran backs closer ties with the West

Reformist candidates are heading for their best showing in more than a decade early results from the Iranian elections show. The result would be a boost for moderate president Hassan Rouhani and his attempts to rebuild ties with the west. Unofficial counts suggest hardliners have lost ground while candidates seeking greater democratic changes are set for their strongest presence in the 290-seat parliament since 2004. At present, they hold fewer than 20 seats.

Some of them are like watermelons. Until you open them up you don’t know what’s inside.

Reformist political commentator Saeed Leyaz on the vague affiliations of some candidates

Partial results emerging from about 50 small towns across Iran, show reformists and their moderate allies were leading the vote. In the capital Tehran, officials counting the ballots at three different districts confirmed reformists were far ahead of their hard-line rivals. The hardline camp is largely made up of loyalists of Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who during his two terms in office avidly stoked tensions with the U.S. and cracked down on internal dissidents. In a bid to squeeze them out, reformists have allied with moderate conservatives, many of whom split with the hard liners because of Ahmadinejad.

iran election