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WORLD NEWS 9
Saturday 27 February 2016
Iran votes in first elections since landmark nuclear deal
ALI AKBAR DAREINI backed hard-liners, said In this photo released by official website of the office of the were allowed to run after
Associated Press she worried about Western Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani waves to media the unelected Guardian
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Ira- influence growing in Iran. after casting his vote for parliamentary and Experts Assembly Council vetted and dis-
nians voted Friday in the “I voted for those who pro- elections in Tehran, Iran Friday, Feb. 26, 2016. qualified many, often on
country’s first election since tect the values of the revo- the grounds of insufficient
its landmark nuclear deal lution and oppose foreign (Iranian Presidency Office via AP) “loyalty” to the Islamic Re-
with world powers, decid- domination of the country public.
ing whether to further em- because I don’t want pro- That means they are un-
power moderates backing West figures to get control likely to attain a majority
President Hassan Rouhani of the parliament,” Ma- but could still win a sub-
or support hard-liners long moudi said. stantial bloc of parlia-
suspicious of the West. The nuclear deal has been ment’s 290 seats with their
The elections for Iran’s the centerpiece of Rou- allies. Lawmakers serve
parliament and a power- hani’s policies since he was four-year terms. Voters also
ful clerical body known as elected in 2013 — and the picked representatives for
the Assembly of Experts are sealing of the deal won the Assembly of Experts, an
tightly controlled by the Iran the lifting of most inter- 88-seat body of clerics offi-
establishment headed by national sanctions against cially charged with select-
the Supreme Leader Aya- it. Throughout, he and the ing the replacement for
tollah Ali Khamenei, which negotiating team had to the supreme leader from
ultimately determines who push against hard-liner op- among its members.q
can run. position. Supreme leader
But within the range al- Khamenei eventually gave
lowed by the Islamic Re- his consent to the final re-
public, the voting may pro- sult. Now reformists want to
vide a referendum on Rou- build on that opening to the
hani’s policies — and his world, promising improve-
promises that the nuclear ments in the economy.
deal, the lifting of most in- Despite the nuclear deal,
ternational sanctions and a Iran and the West have a
greater degree of opening long history of enmity, fu-
to the West can help boost eled by the 1953 Britain
a battered economy — a and U.S.-engineered coup
top concern for most vot- that installed the shah and
ers. the 1979 Islamic Revolution
Nearly 55 million of Iran’s and takeover of the Ameri-
80 million people were eli- can Embassy. A billboard
gible to vote. Participation put up in Tehran before the
figures and other statis- election showed the face
tics were not immediately of Britain’s Queen Eliza-
available, though Interior beth II replaced with that
Minister Abdolreza Rah- of a camel, warning voters
mani Fazli predicted late about “foreign meddling.”
Thursday there would be a The hard-line camp is
turnout of 70 percent. largely made up of loyalists
Polls had been scheduled of Rouhani’s predecessor,
to close at 6 p.m., but the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
Interior Ministry said it would who during his two terms
extend voting time until in office avidly stoked ten-
11:45 p.m. in the capital. sions with the U.S. and
Authorities said election cracked down on internal
workers had begun count- dissidents.
ing ballots after that. The vote is unlikely to radi-
In Tehran, voter Hossein cally change Iran, but re-
Gerami said he backed re- formists and moderates
formists to support Rouhani. peeling away seats from
“The country suffered under hard-liners could help Rou-
hard-liners,” he said. “To- hani push through his do-
day is the time to change mestic agenda. Reformists
Iran for the better.” say that about 200 of its
Sakineh Mamoudi, who 3,000 would-be candidates
