Iran elections: Hassan Rouhani hails 'new chapter' as first results show sweeping gains for moderates

Hardliners are cast into the wilderness and the "Coalition of Hope", which backs a rapprochement with the West, wins all 30 parliamentary seats in Tehran.

Iran's president hailed the beginning of a "new chapter" on Sunday when moderate candidates made sweeping gains in the country's elections, winning all 30 parliamentary seats in Tehran. For the first time in almost two decades, reformists and centrists overcame every obstacle placed in their path to achieve significant advances in two elections, one for the Majles, or parliament, and another for the Assembly of Experts, a powerful representative body. Some of Iran's most notorious hardliners were cast into the political wilderness, including Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, the spiritual mentor of the former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who lost his place in the Assembly of Experts and came near the bottom of the poll.

In Tehran, the "Coalition of Hope", an alliance of reformists, centrists and pragmatic conservatives, achieved a resounding triumph, winning every seat in the capital. Mohammad Reza Aref, a leading reformist and former vice-president, came first in the city with 1,287,862 votes. Ali Mottahari, a sitting MP who has become Mr Aref's main ally, came second with 1,151,551 votes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/12176594/Hassan-Rouhani-hails-new-chapter-as-first-results-show-sweeping-gains-for-moderate-candidates.html