JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Rouhani allies win most Tehran seats in clerical body: final results on IRNA

Rouhani allies win most Tehran seats in clerical body: final results on IRNA

Monday, February 29, 2016, 14:22 GMT+7

DUBAI, Feb 29 - President Hassan Rouhani and his allies won 15 out of the 16 Tehran seats in the Assembly of Experts, final election results published on Monday showed, ousting two prominent hardliners including the speaker of the powerful clerical body.

The results, carried on state news agency IRNA, suggest conservatives may lose their dominance of the 88-member body, which is tasked with choosing the the next supreme leader, the country's most powerful position.

The Friday elections for the assembly and the parliament were the first since Rouhani signed a deal with world powers last July to limit Iran's nuclear activities in return for an easing of economic sanctions.

The twin polls were seen by analysts as a potential turning point for Iran and a vote of confidence in Rouhani's government and his detente policy with the West.

Rouhani's allies were also due to take all 30 parliamentary seats in the Tehran constituency, according to preliminary results. But their gains outside the capital were more limited, with conservatives keeping hold of many seats in both bodies.

The hardline chairman of the Assembly of Experts, Mohammad Yazdi, lost his seat. So did Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, an arch-conservative who was widely seen as the spiritual mentor to former conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The only hardliner to make the cut was Ahmad Jannati, who squeezed in at 16th place. Jannati is also the chairman of the Guardian Council, a cleric vetting body that disqualified the majority of reformist candidates from running for the elections.

Reuters

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Latest news