Final election results released by Iran’s Interior Ministry show that moderates have won a majority in parliament.
The results broadcast Monday by state TV show that reformists, who favor expanded social freedoms and engagement with the West, won at least 85 seats, while moderate conservatives won 73 seats. Together, they have a majority in the 290-seat assembly.
Hard-liners, who had adamantly opposed last summer’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers, won just 68 seats.
Iranian men take a ride on a motorcycle taxi at Hafez square in central in Tehran on February 29, 2016. (AFP / ATTA KENARE)
Five seats will go to religious minorities, and the remaining 59 will be decided in a runoff, likely to be held in April.
Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said turnout was 62 percent.
The elections were the first to be held since the finalization of the nuclear agreement, which lifted international sanctions in exchange for Tehran curbing its atomic program.
— AP
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