Iran touts high turnout in election
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - Iran, under intense Western pressure over its disputed nuclear program, on Saturday declared an initial turnout of 64 percent in a parliamentary election shunned by most reformists as a sham.
Iran's Islamic clerical leadership is eager to restore the damage to its legitimacy caused by the violent crushing of eight months of street protests after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected in a 2009 vote his opponents said was rigged.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who endorsed the 2009 result, has since turned sharply against Ahmadinejad. Some early results from Friday's vote suggested the divisive president's supporters were losing ground in the 290-seat parliament.
His sister, Parvin Ahmadinejad, failed to win a seat in their hometown of Garmsar, the semi-official Mehr news agency said. Elsewhere, Khamenei loyalists appeared to be doing well.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/03/us-iran-idUSTRE82200A20120303
= new reply since forum marked as read
