Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
March 16, 2008

Iran's Conservatives Win Large Share of Parliament Seats
--------------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1B8FE7F:A6F02AD83191E160248D4CD44A092CB121A4E82C900CD027& Conservative
candidates are reported to have won more than 71 percent of the seats
Partial results in Iran's parliamentary elections indicate the
country's conservatives have won a large share of seats in parliament.







Iranian officials work at election headquarters in Interior Ministry
in Tehran, Iran, 15 Mar 2008Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi
said Saturday conservative candidates have won more than 71 percent of
the seats. 

The European Union Sunday expressed concern about the elections,
saying they were neither free nor fair.  It said Iran's election
procedures fell below international standards and did not allow for a
truly competitive ballot.

The United States said the election was rigged because voters were not
able to cast ballots for a full range of candidates.

Iran's Guardian Council banned hundreds of reformists from running,
and the main reformist coalition fielded only about 100 candidates out
of 4,500 overall. 

But a coalition spokesman describes the elections as a success, saying
that despite the restrictions, reformists have won 34 seats outright
in the 290 seat parliament. 

Government officials say more than 65 percent of Iran's 44 million
eligible voters cast ballots in Friday's elections.

Of the two rival conservative groups, one is more closely linked to
hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  The other wants Iran to take
a more practical approach to dealing with the West on its
controversial nuclear program and could challenge Mr. Ahmadinejad on
his handling of the economy.  Iran's economy has suffered from high
inflation and unemployment, along with fuel shortages. 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.




.