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Heavyweight moderates and conservatives stayed away from
Friday's election and reformists called it unfree and unfair as
it was mainly a contest between hardliners and low-key
conservatives loyal to Islamic revolutionary ideals.
Mohammad Khatami, Iran's first reformist president, was among
the critics who did not vote on Friday.
Imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, a
women's rights advocate, in a statement shared by her family
with Reuters, called the election a "sham".
The Hamshahri and Kayhan newspapers both reported that turnout
was estimated at about 40%, in line with official surveys ahead
of the poll estimating about 41% of eligible Iranians would
vote.
The Hamshahri called the turnout "a 25-million slap” to calls
for an election boycott, in a front-page headline next to a
depiction of a ballot paper smacking U.S. President Joe Biden in
the face.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Iran's
"enemies" - a term he normally uses for the United States and
Israel - of trying to create despair among Iranian voters.
"The Silent Majority" was the front page headline in Ham Mihan,
a pro-reform newspaper, which also put the turnout at about 40%.
The interior ministry may announce the official turnout later on
Saturday. If the turnout figure is officially confirmed, it
would be the lowest turnout since Iran's Islamic revolution in
1979.
Iran's turnout fell to 42.5% in 2020 parliamentary elections
from about 62% in 2016.
The election follows anti-government protests in 2022-23 that
spiralled into some of Iran's worst political turmoil since the
revolution and coincided with growing frustration over the
country's economic woes.
Over 15,000 candidates ran for the 290-seat parliament on
Friday.
The parliamentary election was twinned with a vote for the
88-seat Assembly of Experts, an influential body that has the
task of choosing 84-year-old Khamenei's successor.
Hardline President Ebrahim Raisi was re-elected to the Assembly
of Experts with 82.5% of the vote, the interior ministry
announced on Saturday.
Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who was elected president in
landslide wins in 2013 and 2017 promising to reduce Iran's
diplomatic isolation, was banned from running, drawing criticism
from moderates.
(dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; editing by William Mallard
and Jason Neely)
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