Reformists leading in Iran parliament vote

Reformists and moderate conservatives are leading in the race for parliament according to early election results, an indication President Hassan Rouhani may face a more friendly house to pursue his domestic agenda.

Early returns this morning from yesterday’s parliamentary polls show that none of the three competing political factions will win a majority alone in the 290-seat parliament but reformists seeking greater democratic changes are heading to win their strongest presence in parliament since 2004 at the expense of hard-liners.

Officials are yet to release early results but reports in the semiofficial Fars and Mehr news agencies and a count conducted by The Associated Press show that hard-liners are the main losers of the vote.

Yesterday’s election for Iran’s parliament and a powerful clerical body known as the Assembly of Experts was the first since Iran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers last year.