Reform candidates lead poll

Tehran - Reformists close to the moderate Iranian President, Mr Mohammad Khatami, were trouncing their conservative competitors…

Tehran - Reformists close to the moderate Iranian President, Mr Mohammad Khatami, were trouncing their conservative competitors, who have long held the reins of power, according to nation wide municipal election results published yesterday. In Tehran, a city of 10 million people, the reform list headed by the former interior minister, Mr Abdollah Nuri, took 13 of the 15 municipal council seats in Friday's first municipal elections in Iran. Mr Nuri himself won 169,592 votes out of the 468,434 which had been counted as of noon yesterday in Tehran, the biggest plum in the elections.