Iranians vote in run-off parliamentary elections, conservatives favored

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iranians voted Friday in parliamentary run-off elections expected to leave conservatives firmly in control after the country's clerical leadership barred most reformist candidates, who support better relations with the West, from running. At stake are 82 of the 290 seats in parliament including 11 representing the capital Tehran. In the first round, conservatives won 132 seats. But the conservatives, who are loyal to principles of the 1979 Islamic revolution, are divided between supporters of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and opponents. His supporters took 90 of the 132 conservative seats in the first round on March 14. Reformists won 31 seats and Independents won 39 seats.