Pragmatic Rouhani hails poll win, ally salutes will of people

While advances by moderates and reformists in Friday's polls were most evident in the capital, where they won all Tehran's 30 seats according to early results, the sheer scale of the gains there suggests a legislature more friendly to the pragmatist Rouhani has become a distinct possibility.

Top Rouhani ally Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a shrewd political fixer and veteran pro-reform figure, issued a solemn message on Twitter that no one could resist the people's will.

"No one is able to resist against the will of the majority of the people and whoever the people don't want has to step aside," the message said.

A loosening of control by the anti-Western hardliners who currently dominate the 290-seat parliament could strengthen Rouhani's hand to open Iran further to foreign trade and investment following last year's breakthrough nuclear deal.

A reformist-backed list of candidates aligned with Rouhani was on course to win all 30 parliamentary seats in Tehran, initial results released on Sunday showed. Top conservative candidate Gholamali Haddad Adel was set to lose his seat.

"The people showed their power once again and gave more credibility and strength to their elected government," Rouhani said, adding he would work with anyone who won election to build a future for the industrialised, oil-exporting country. There was silence from the conservative camp.

The polls were seen by analysts as a potential turning point for Iran, where nearly 60 percent of its 80 million population is under 30 and eager to engage with the world following the lifting of most sanctions.

Principlists, otherwise known as hardliners, hold 65 percent of the outgoing parliament and the rest is divided between reformists and independents who traditionally support Rouhani. "It is a very big victory," said analyst Saeed Leylaz, a former adviser to former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

"It is very good news for President Rouhani. We will have a very rational parliament, a less factional parliament, a more expert and technocrat parliament."

Foad Izadi, an assistant professor at the Faculty of World Studies in Tehran University said the reformists' strong showing was prompted by Rouhani's success in reaching a nuclear agreement between Iran and international powers, the removal of most of the sanctions that had strangled the country's economy over the past decade and restoration of relations with the West.

"It is a sweeping victory for Tehran but for other cities it is not yet clear cut. It is beyond expectations," he added.

Etemad, a reformist newspaper whose managing-editor Elias Hazrati won a seat in Tehran, chose the headline of "clean up in the parliament."