This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35684776

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Iran elections: Reformists make gains in Assembly of Experts Iran elections: Reformists make gains in Assembly of Experts
(about 4 hours later)
Moderates and reformists have made further gains in elections to Iran's Assembly of Experts, which appoints Iran's supreme leader. Moderates and reformists have dealt another blow to Iran's hardliners, winning all but one of the seats for Tehran in the Assembly of Experts.
President Hassan Rouhani and his allies won 15 of 16 seats allocated to Tehran, although votes for the rest of the country were still being counted. President Hassan Rouhani and his allies won 15 out of the capital's 16 seats on the clerical body, which may choose the country's next supreme leader.
However, prominent hardliner Ahmad Jannati was re-elected to the assembly. Two leading hardline clerics, assembly chairman Mohammad Yazdi and Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, lost their seats.
The vote is seen as significant given that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is 76 and has suffered ill-health. The only hardliner to make the cut in Friday's polls was Ahmad Jannati.
In elections to Iran's parliament that took place at the same time, allies of Mr Rouhani won all 30 seats allocated to the capital. The vote for the 88-member Assembly of Experts was held on the same day as the country's parliamentary elections, in which moderates and reformists won all 30 of Tehran's seats.
Supporters of the president had sought to prevent hardliners from being re-elected to the Assembly of Experts. Partial results from elsewhere in the country are mixed, with hardliners so far winning 153 seats in the 290-seat parliament and moderates and reformists 111.
The assembly's current chairman, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, and another prominent figure, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi - seen as the mentor to conservative former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - both lost their seats. The final results of that vote are expected later on Monday.
However, Mr Jannati retained his seat, finishing in 16th place in the capital. He is chairman of Iran's Guardian Council, an unelected body that vets election candidates. 'British list'
Ahead of the elections, the Guardian Council disqualified almost all the well-known reformist candidates and many moderate ones. More than 30 million Iranians voted in Friday's polls, the first since the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran that saw it curb sensitive nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions.
BBC Persian's Amir Azimi says this made reformist leaders resort to the uncharted territory of backing a coalition list, asking their supporters to vote tactically. The deal was opposed by many hardliners but backed by moderates and reformists, who for the first time formed combined electoral lists and asked their supporters to vote tactically in an effort to increase their shares of the seats in parliament for the next four years and in the Assembly of Experts for the next eight.
Analysis: Lyse Doucet, BBC News international correspondentAnalysis: Lyse Doucet, BBC News international correspondent
This stunning election result will make a difference in Iran's engagement with the wider world.This stunning election result will make a difference in Iran's engagement with the wider world.
President Rouhani's hand has been strengthened in parliament to help open his country to greater trade and investment. That will help him, and others in his reformist camp, to deepen the dialogue with the West, which began with negotiations on a landmark nuclear deal.President Rouhani's hand has been strengthened in parliament to help open his country to greater trade and investment. That will help him, and others in his reformist camp, to deepen the dialogue with the West, which began with negotiations on a landmark nuclear deal.
But much of this opening will continue to be with Europe, rather than the US. Iran's relationship with America is still complex and controversial.But much of this opening will continue to be with Europe, rather than the US. Iran's relationship with America is still complex and controversial.
Iran's ambitions in the region are also deeply rooted - it has strategic interests in countries like Syria, Iraq and Lebanon as well as Afghanistan, and a strong sense of its right to remain engaged. These are areas where Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards and its conservative Supreme leader hold sway.Iran's ambitions in the region are also deeply rooted - it has strategic interests in countries like Syria, Iraq and Lebanon as well as Afghanistan, and a strong sense of its right to remain engaged. These are areas where Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards and its conservative Supreme leader hold sway.
But Iran wants to be regarded as an equal partner, able to sit at the world's top tables to work on common threats like the so-called Islamic State. President Rouhani's team may now feel empowered to engage a bit more, more often.But Iran wants to be regarded as an equal partner, able to sit at the world's top tables to work on common threats like the so-called Islamic State. President Rouhani's team may now feel empowered to engage a bit more, more often.
Hardliners have responded by accusing reformists of colluding with the West to block conservative appointments to the country's Assembly of Experts. One goal they set was to unseat the three leading hardliners on the clerical council.
Sadeq Larijani said reformists had worked with "American and English media outlets" during the poll. In the end, only Ayatollah Jannati - who is also the leader of the Guardian Council, an unelected body disqualified thousands of reformist candidates from standing on Friday - managed to win re-election in Tehran.
"Is this type of co-ordination with foreigners in order to push out these figures from the Assembly of Experts in the interests of the regime?" he said in a statement. On Sunday, as it became clear that Ayatollah Yazdi and Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi were going to lose their seats, the head of the judiciary complained of foreign interference.
It is the first time Iranians have gone to the poll since last year's landmark nuclear deal and the lifting of international sanctions. Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani alleged that moderates and reformists had formed "a British list" and worked with "American and English media outlets" during the election campaign.
The parliamentary result in Tehran is significant because lawmakers from the capital usually determine the political direction of the house, analysts say. "Is this type of co-ordination with foreigners in order to push out these figures from the Assembly of Experts in the interests of the regime?" he asked.
But with a mixed vote outside the capital neither the reformist or hardliners are likely to have overall control of parliament. Mr Rouhani and his allies have rejected such accusations.
Mr Rouhani said on Saturday that the election was an endorsement of his efforts to end Iran's international isolation. "We don't have anything such as a 'British list' and if anyone wants to say that there is such a list, they are in fact insulting the Guardian Council," said Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht.
"The competition is over. It's time to open a new chapter in Iran's economic development based on domestic abilities and international opportunities," the official Irna news agency quoted him as saying. The new composition of the Assembly of Experts is seen as significant given that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is 76 and has suffered ill-health.
Despite securing the nuclear deal he has faced resistance at home to domestic reform. The president has portrayed the election results as an endorsement of his efforts to end Iran's international isolation.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the turnout, at 60%, showed "the brilliant face of religious democracy to the world", Iran's conservative Tasnim news agency reported. "It's time to open a new chapter in Iran's economic development based on domestic abilities and international opportunities," he said on Saturday.
But he also urged "vigilance" against what the agency called "foreign meddling". BBC Persian's Ali Hamedani says the economy was a key issue in the election. With sanctions lifted and Western investors beginning to return to Iran, there are high hopes for an improvement in daily life, our correspondent reports.
BBC Persian's Ali Hamedani says the economy was a key issue in the process.
With sanctions lifted and Western investors beginning to return to Iran, there are high hopes for an improvement in daily life, he says.