Moderates, reformers win key majorities in Iran vote

TEHRAN — Iranian reformists and relative moderates who support last year’s nuclear deal won the most seats in parliament and a clerical body charged with selecting the next supreme leader in a major setback for hard-liners who opposed the agreement, official election results showed Monday.

Final results released by the Interior Ministry and broadcast on state TV show that reformists, who favor expanded social freedoms and engagement with the West, and other backers of President Hassan Rouhani, won at least 85 seats.

While none of the country’s three main political camps will dominate the next parliament, the assembly will be much friendlier to Rouhani, a moderate elected in 2013 on pledges to relax restrictions on freedom of expression and improve ties with the West.

The parliament vote isn’t expected to herald large-scale change in Iranian policies, and it’s extremely unlikely that the winners will propose structural changes to reduce the role of Islam in government or law.

[...] reformists and moderate conservatives are expected to work together — at least on economic issues — and the next parliament will be to more amicable toward Rouhani, making it more likely he can also deliver on promises to promote social freedoms.

U.S. officials had expressed hope that last year’s landmark agreement, which lifted international sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear activities, might pave the way for greater cooperation with Tehran on other regional issues.