Despite the landmark nuclear deal that led to a huge number of sanctions on Iran to be lifted, Amroozbeh said “peoples’ lives haven’t changed a lot”. Almost 55 million Iranians were eligible to vote.
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Turnout figures and other statistics were not immediately available, though Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli predicted late Thursday there would be a turnout of 70 percent.
Voting is set to close at 6pm local time, although this may be extended if there is a larger turnout.
Vote counting started on Friday evening and some small constituencies could declare on Saturday morning, an electoral official said.
On Friday, voters in the Islamic Republic lined up at 53,000 polling places, waiting patiently in front of the famed mosques of Qom or the crowded streets of Tehran.
“The country suffered under hard-liners”, he said.
“In these elections, reformists and moderates have formed a coalition in the hope of winning back the majority from the conservatives, who have held it for three consecutive terms”.
But for much of the rest of the world, the outcome should reveal whether Iran is moving in a more-moderate direction as the result of the completion of the nuclear negotiations with world powers and subsequent easing of economic sanctions. He was a presidential candidate in 2013 but withdrew in Rouhani’s favor, paving the way for the election of the moderate leader.
The hard line 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 USA and cracked down on internal dissidents. In fact, approximately half of the 12,000 potential candidates for one of 290 Parliamentary seats were rejected by The Guardian Council, according to the Fars News Agency.
In their view, such a parliament can discard the policies of the conservatives that now dominate the Majlis, pave the way for the economic and political development of the nation and smooth the path for President Rouhani to implement his social reform policies, further the nascent rapprochement with the West and break off Iran’s worldwide isolation. Members serve for eight years.
The Assembly of Experts is also a high-ranking body that elects and oversees the activities of the leader of the Islamic Revolution.
“Already, 150 people have voted which is twice as many as last time”, Mehdi Khazaie, head of the polling station told AFP two hours after opening the doors.
Iranian women show their identification in a polling station in Tehran.
“The message to the worldwide community from this election is the Iranians are solidly behind their government”, he said.
Smiling and wearing bright lipstick, with headscarves barely covering their hair, young Iranian women took selfies as they lined up to vote in crucial elections on Friday.
Khamenei cast his ballot shortly after the polls opened in Tehran.
“Maybe Mr. Rouhani did not fulfill 100 percent of his promises, but with the [conservative] environment we have, we achieved a lot”, says Mina, who gave only her first name. Turnout in the elections should be such that our enemy will be disappointed and will lose its hope.
The Guardian Council of the Constitution allowed 159 candidates to run in the Assembly of Experts’ election.
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Gains for Rouhani’s supporters in this balloting – even if they fail to win a majority in parliament – could limit hard-liners’ influence over the house and increase the likelihood that the president could deliver on some of his legislative priorities.
