PHOTO: The Supreme Leader casts his ballot in Iran’s elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts
UPDATE 1945 GMT: Voting has been extended again to 11:45 p.m. local time (1930 GMT).
A Guardian Council spokesman said 28 million ballots — about a 51% turnout — were cast by 9 p.m.
The closing time had been moved from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., then from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., and then from 10 to 11 p.m.
UPDATE 1300 GMT: The Tehran Friday Prayer Leader, Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi, has proclaimed that a high turnout in the vote has defeated the “enemy’s conspiracy” to renew the protests which followed the disputed 2009 Presidential election.
UPDATE 0930 GMT: The Interior Ministry has announced that another 1,500 candidates have withdrawn just before today’s vote.
Ministry official Mohammad Hossein Moghimi said that only 4,844 candidates are now standing. No explanation was given for the withdrawals.
The head of Tehran’s Election Committee said the vote-count in the capital “may take two to three days“. Results from outside Tehran are expected within 24 hours of the closing of the polls.
Prominent military commander Qassem Soleimani has endorsed Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, who is risking a break with conservative Principlists by standing as an independent.
In a meeting with families of Iranians killed in Syria and Iraq. Soleimani — the head of the elite Qods Force of the Revolutionary Guards — said:
[Larijani] was and is one of the most effective individuals regarding regional developments… He has always been a supporter of the Quds Force, and I have always benefited from his practical and intellectual support. I wish him further success.
Principlists and hardliners have criticized Larijani for not joining the main conservative bloc in the Parliamentary vote. It is possible that the Speaker may face a challenge for his position from Gholam Ali Haddel-Adel, a former Speaker and a member of the Supreme Leader’s inner circle, who is leading the bloc.
Haddel-Adel warned on Thursday that reformists must not triumph in the vote, calling for “vigilance” to prevent the outcome.
He said that people must participate “to avoid a repeat of” the Green Movement after the disputed 2009 Presidential elections, investing “trust” in those who led regime-organized rallies.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Iranians vote on Friday in the most important elections in the Islamic Republic since mass protests after the disputed 2009 Presidential ballot.
About 55 million people are registered to choose both the 290-seat Parliament and the 88-member Assembly of Experts, the body which names the Supreme Leader.
See Iran Analysis: A Beginner’s Guide to the Elections and Why They Matter
The Guardian Council, appointed by the Supreme Leader and the judiciary, has tried to restrict centrists — linked to President Rouhani and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani — by disqualifying thousands of candidates. More than 50% of the 12,000 applicants for the Majlis and 80% of the 801 clerics seeking an Assembly position were rejected.
The purges will almost certainly ensure that hardliners and conservatives will maintain a tight grip on the Assembly, preventing former President Rafsanjani from regaining the chair.
However, centrists and reformists have tried to counter the disqualifications by forming joint lists of candidates to ensure a viable bloc to challenge the hardliners and conservatives.
The Supreme Leader and other high-level officials have further attempted to limit the centrist-reformist efforts through warning of foreign-led “sedition” to undermine the vote and the Islamic Republic.
Ayatollah Khamenei repeated the line as he voted on Friday: “Our enemies have their covetous eyes trained on Iran. People are advised to vote with discretion and foresight and disappoint the enemies.”
See Iran Daily: Supreme Leader Leads Final Push Against “Enemy” Over Elections
He said, “Anybody who loves Iran, anybody who loves the Islamic Republic and national dignity, grandeur and glory is advised to participate in the elections.”
