Iran Hardliners Take Election Lead as Moderates Stymied
- Arch-conservatives expected to win polls, sidelining Rouhani
- Coronavirus deaths have worsened already low turnout
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Iranian hard-liners headed for victory in parliamentary elections, sweeping Tehran and other cities in a repudiation of President Hassan Rouhani’s engagement with outside powers.
The vote was widely predicted to hand control of the legislature to conservatives empowered by the country’s revived, economically damaging standoff with the U.S. Preliminary results show that hard-liners won a majority of the 290 seats, according to a tally compiled by the semi-official Mehr news agency.