TEHRAN -- A day after
parliamentary election concluded in Iran, principlists are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran and many other cities.
Official IRNA news agency and national TV said 1,960 from 5,000 ballots in Tehran have been counted so far, based on an interior ministry report which is updated hourly.
Officials have not yet released the total voter turnout. However, IRNA said it was 41%, based on unofficial reports.
The Hamshahri and Kayhan newspapers both reported that turnout was 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.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said Iran’s “enemies” were trying to create despair among Iranian voters.
Under Iranian law, the parliament has a variety of roles, including overseeing the executive branch and voting on treaties.
Over 15,000 candidates ran for the 290-seat parliament on Friday.
A total of 61.17 million people, comprising 30.94 million men and 30.22 million women, were eligible to vote in the two elections, with the interior ministry saying more than 25 million cast their ballots at the polls.
The voting was initially scheduled to end at 18:00 local time but was extended three times, with each extension lasting for two hours.
The parliamentary election was twinned with a vote for the 88-seat Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body in charge of overseeing the activities of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution with a position of authority to either appoint or dismiss the Leader.
President Ebrahim Raisi was
re-elected to the Assembly of Experts with 82.5% of the vote, the interior ministry announced on Saturday.
In a message, President Raisi expressed his gratitude to the Iranian people for their remarkable turnout.
He said the enthusiastic and conscious presence of Iranians in Friday’s vote was a “big no” to the global arrogance after its historic defeat in last year’s riots, which broke out following the death of a 22-year-old woman in the capital Tehran.
“The ill-wishers of our beloved Iran had mobilized all their power so that the March 1 elections would be held without fervor,” he said.
Raisi said the remarkable turnout brought “honor and pride to the Islamic homeland and despair and frustration on the enemies.”