Conservatives Claim Victory in Iranian Election

Religious conservatives yesterday claimed victory in Iranian parliamentary elections, deepening the divide between Tehran and the west. With just over half the seats decided last night, official reports said that supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other hardliners had won 120, against 46 for their reformist challengers, who had been barred from standing in many constituencies.

Tehran's 30 seats had not been declared, but conservatives were also claiming to have won a clear majority in the capital.

The Iranian leadership portrayed the vote as an act of popular defiance in the face of international sanctions over the country's nuclear program.

The possibility that Iran might suspend its enrichment of uranium, in line with UN security council demands is now negligible, Iranian political analysts said.

The EU presidency issued a statement yesterday expressing "its deep regret and disappointment that over a third of prospective candidates were prevented from standing in [the] elections. As a result, the election was neither fair nor free."

Iran's interior ministry said the turnout had been 60%, although some opposition members and political observers expressed skepticism. Many polling stations witnessed just a steady trickle of voters during Friday's vote.

Ahmadinejad is now well positioned for next year's presidential elections. He is expected to tighten his grip on the media further, with the support of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is constitutionally supposed to be above party politics, but who dropped any vestige of impartiality to praise the president in the last days of the election campaign.