Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 27
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
Early results indicate that the candidates supported by moderates and reformists are leading in Assembly of Experts election in capital city of Tehran.
According to Iran's Elections Headquarters, 1.51 million votes have been counted so far, the state-run IRINN TV reported Feb. 27.
The former moderate president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Discernment Council stands at the first place with 692,000 votes.
The Iranian president Hassan Rouhani stands at the second place with over 652,000 votes.
According to primary results, Guardian Council chief Ahmad Jannati is in 10th place so far with 476,000 votes.
The primary results also indicate that, Mohammad Yazdi, a powerful conservative cleric who heads the Assembly of Experts stands at 12th place with 440,000 votes.
Tehran has 16 seats in Assembly of Experts.
Elections were held for the tenth round of parliament and fifth round of the Assembly of Experts on Feb. 26. Iranians went to the polls in over 1,063 constituencies.
Currently, the Parliament has 290 representatives fourteen of whom represent the non-Muslim religious minorities. Women constitute about eight percent of the Parliament members in Iran.
A total of 4,844 hopefuls, including about 500 women, who were qualified among 12,000 registered candidates by the Guardian Council, were taking part in the race to take the parliamentary seats.
The elected candidates will serve from May 3, 2016 for a four-year term.
The Assembly of Experts will also see its 88 members elected by the people for another eight-year term.
Iran's interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said that early results of parliamentary election for capital city of Tehran will be announced by Feb. 27 night.
Almost 2.9-3 million people have participated in the election in Tehran, while some 6.6 million were eligible for voting, he said, estimating that the voter turnout at Tehran city reaches 42 percent.