Iran, under intense Western pressure over its disputed nuclear programme, today declared an initial turnout of 64 per cent in a parliamentary election shunned by most reformists as a sham.
Iran's Islamic clerical leadership is eager to restore the damage to its legitimacy caused by the violent crushing of eight months of street protests after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected as president in a 2009 vote his opponents said was rigged.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who endorsed the 2009 result, has since turned sharply against Mr Ahmadinejad. Some early results from yesterday's vote suggested the divisive president's supporters were losing ground in the 290-seat parliament.
His sister, Parvin Ahmadinejad, failed to win a seat in their hometown of Garmsar, the semi-official Mehr news agency said. Elsewhere, Khamenei loyalists appeared to be doing well.
Interior minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar put the turnout at 64 per cent after more than 26 million votes had been counted, telling state television the Iranian nation had disappointed its enemies by voting in such numbers.
The figure was close to the 65 per cent predicted for weeks by hardline conservative leaders and media.
Mr Najjar said 135 seats had been won outright so far, with 10 going to a run-off. Final results were not expected today.
Results declared so far were mostly from rural areas, Mr Ahmadinejad's traditional strongholds. Ayatollah Khamenei's candidates were expected to do well in Tehran and other big cities.
The 72-year-old cleric had called for a high turnout to send a message of defiance to "the arrogant powers bullying us."
No independent observers were on hand to monitor the voting or check the official turnout figures. An unelected Guardian Council, which vets all candidates, barred 35 sitting MPs from seeking re-election and nearly 2,000 other would-be candidates.
The vote took place without the two main opposition leaders. Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who ran for president in 2009, have been under house arrest for more than a year.
Reuters