Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 29
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The final results of election to the Assembly of Experts in Iran's capital of Tehran indicate that two powerful conservative figures have failed to secure their seats.
According to the results announced by Iran's Elections Headquarters Feb. 29, the candidates supported by moderates and reformists have won the majority of seats in Tehran.
Mohammad Yazdi, a powerful conservative cleric, who currently heads the Assembly of Experts and Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, one of the most important hardliner figures in Iran, have lost their seats.
According to the Elections Headquarters, over 4.5 million people voted for Tehran province's 16 seats in the Assembly of Experts.
The former moderate president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Discernment Council took the first place with 2.301 million votes, meanwhile President Hassan Rouhani ranked third gaining over 2.238 million votes.
The Guardian Council's chief Ahmad Jannati stood at the 16th place with 1.321 million votes.
The Assembly of Experts is a key governmental body in Iran, responsible for qualifying the country's supreme leader when a former leader dies or ceases to qualify.
While it seems that the reformists succeeded in pushing out the powerful conservatives, still the final results should be approved by the Guardian Council.
Election was held for the tenth round of the parliament and the 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 MPs 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 rally 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.