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Iran reformists performing well in early election results

Iranian women stand in line at a polling station during the parliamentary and Experts Assembly elections in Qom, 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Friday, Feb. 26, 2016. Iranians across the Islamic Republic voted Friday in the country's first election since its landmark nuclear deal with world powers, deciding whether to further empower its moderate president or side with hard-liners long suspicious of the West. The election for Iran's parliament and a clerical body known as the Assembly of Experts hinges on both the policies of President Hassan Rouhani, as well as Iranians worries about the country's economy, long battered by international sanctions. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) Iranian women stand in line at a polling station during the parliamentary and Experts Assembly elections in Qom, 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Friday, Feb. 26, 2016. Iranians across the Islamic Republic voted Friday in the country's first election since its landmark nuclear deal with world powers, deciding whether to further empower its moderate president or side with hard-liners long suspicious of the West. The election for Iran's parliament and a clerical body known as the Assembly of Experts hinges on both the policies of President Hassan Rouhani, as well as Iranians worries about the country's economy, long battered by international sanctions. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

By Associated Press February 27, 2016 1 min read

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Early results from Iranian parliamentary elections indicate that reformist candidates are heading for their best showing in more than a decade in a potential boost to moderate President Hassan Rouhani.

Officials have yet to release formal results, but reports on Saturday by the semi-official Fars and Mehr news agencies and a count conducted by The Associated Press show that candidates from Iran’s powerful hard-line camp have lost ground. Reformists seeking greater democratic changes and better ties with the West appear to be heading toward their strongest presence in the 290-seat parliament since 2004.

Nearly 55 million of Iran’s 80 million people were eligible to vote. Participation figures were not immediately available, though Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli predicted late Thursday there would be a turnout of 70 percent.