March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Iran's most devout Islamist factions took an early lead in an election for the nation's 290-seat parliament over opposition parties that are calling for more democracy.

Candidates backing the system under which senior Islamic religious leaders have the final say over policy gained 108 of the first 141 seats declared, and more than 70 percent of votes counted, state-run Press Television reported today. The Reformists' Coalition and National Trust Party, which oppose an Iran governed purely by Islamic rules, got 33 seats, it said.

Most of the conservatives who have won seats are from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's United Principlist Front, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, without saying whether the group was on target to retain a majority in parliament. Ahmadinejad is seeking to keep control of the legislature ahead of presidential elections next year in which he can run again.

``These elections are well programmed for a win for the conservatives,'' said Mohammad-Reza Djalili, professor of international relations at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. ``There is real weariness among people about the political game being played out in Iran.''

Inflation, Jobs

Ahmadinejad's opponents say he's fighting a diplomatic battle with the United Nations over Iran's nuclear program at the expense of the country's economy, wracked by an inflation rate approaching 20 percent and rising youth unemployment.

The president's party was opposed in the elections by a breakaway conservative group headed by Ali Larijani, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, and the Reformists of ex- President Mohammad Khatami. Khatami's party contested less than half of the seats in parliament after the Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists, banned hundreds of its candidates.

The U.S., which has spearheaded three sets of economic sanctions against Ahmadinejad's government, said yesterday the outlawing of the Reformists meant the vote was ``cooked'' in favor of the regime. Both the president and Larijani vow unwavering loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Islamic revolution.

Ahmadinejad, backed by Iran's clerics, has stoked tensions with the U.S. and the UN since his election three years ago. The nuclear program, which Washington says is designed to produce a bomb, is in defiance of UN orders and on March 3 prompted a third set of Security Council sanctions.

Iraq, Lebanon

The U.S. says that under Ahmadinejad's presidency Iran has also assisted insurgents in Iraq and sponsored the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, which Washington and Israel consider terrorists. He has also denied Israel's right to exist.

Results from all of Iran's 30 provinces excluding Tehran will be released today, Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi told reporters in Tehran. The outcome of the ballot in the capital, which has 30 parliamentary seats, won't be known for several days, he said.

Turnout among Iran's 43 million voters was about 60 percent, Mohammadi said. About 50 percent of voters took part in the last election four years ago.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Bentley in Tehran at mbentley3@bloomberg.net; Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 15, 2008 11:03 EDT