Iranians vote for new parliament, top clerical body in keenly watched polls

Iranians voted in elections for parliament and a key clerical body, amid fears of a low turnout and with conservatives expected to tighten their grip on power.

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who has called for a strong turnout, was the first to cast his ballot on Friday, at a polling station in central Tehran, state television reported.

The elections are the first in Iran since widespread protests erupted after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's dress code for women.

Since the last elections, Iran has also been badly affected by international sanctions that have led to an economic crisis.

More than 61 million people out of Iran's 85-million population are eligible to vote for members of parliament as well as the clerics of the Assembly of Experts, the body in charge of selecting Iran's supreme leader.

A low turnout is expected, however, after a state TV poll found more than half of respondents were indifferent about the elections.

Iran's last parliamentary elections in 2020 had a voter turnout of 42.57 percent –– the lowest since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Candidates vetted

Khamenei had on Friday appealed for people to vote, saying "onlookers from all over observe the affairs of our country; make (Iran's) friends happy and ill-wishers disappointed".

The supreme leader had previously warned that Iran's "enemies want to see if the people are present", adding that otherwise "they will threaten your security in one way or another".

Those watching, he said, included the United States, "most of the Europeans, evil Zionists, capitalists and big companies".

Iran considers the United States, its Western allies and Israel "enemies" of the state and accuses them of seeking to intervene in its internal affairs.

On the eve of the elections, the United States said they would be unfair.

"I have no expectation that Iran's elections will be free and fair, and I suspect that a great number of Iranians have no expectation that those elections will be free and fair," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington.

Candidates for parliament are vetted by the Guardian Council, whose members are either appointed or approved by the supreme leader.

They have approved a total of 15,200 candidates, out of nearly 49,000 applicants, to run for seats in the 290-member parliament.

Conservatives and ultra-conservatives, who hold 232 out 290 seats in the 2020 parliament after reformist and moderate candidates were disqualified from running, are expected by analysts to dominate once again.

Conservatives are also expected to maintain a firm grip on the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body exclusively made up of male Islamic scholars.

A total of 144 candidates are running but many hopefuls were disqualified, including former president Hassan Rouhani.

Voting will run until 6:00 pm (1430 GMT) and "will be extended if necessary", the interior ministry said in a statement.