Iran: Major electoral victory for moderate forces, winning all seats in Tehran

The Iranian reformists gathered around President Hassan Rouhani achieved a major election victory in the capital of Iran, reports Al Jazeera.

According to the first results, after more than 90 percent of the votes were counted, they won all 30 parliamentary seats in Tehran.

In other parts of the country, the situation is equal between three main groups: reformists, conservatives and a list of independent candidates.

After the voting was over, the predictions of many proved correct. Tehran has given its votes to moderate forces advocating for reforms. In the election process, the population of the capital punished the conservatives and prevented them from entering the parliament.

This is what the first official results show. The vote turned into a public declaration of Rouhani's policy of continuing the policy of opening up and economic reforms.

Expected results

"It is not a surprise that the people voted for the reformist list. They believe that the Rouhani government has done a good job. As the first step, he promised to lift the sanctions and it was successfully completed. The second step he promised was to solve internal economic problems. The population understood the message and therefore the reformist list received a lot of support," says Hamid Rida Shakohi, an Iranian journalist for Al Jazeera.

The results of the election do not come as a particular surprise to Iranians. The practice during the past election processes has not changed this time either. Mass turnout meant much more to moderate forces.

This is how Iran got what many wanted - a high voter turnout.

"According to our information, more than 33 million voters voted, which is a turnout above 60 percent. The elections were organized and conducted in a stable political and security environment," Abdu Rida Rahmani, Minister of Interior, told Al Jazeera.

The first results pleased President Rouhani. Without waiting for the publication of the final results, he declared that the time had come to open a new chapter in the country's economic recovery.

The recovery will be based on internal resources, but Rouhani does not hide that he intends to use external aid as well. Many believe that it was he who managed to end the period of absolute conservative dominance in Iran.