Iran elections: Hard-liners are leading in parliamentary election

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A woman fills out her ballot as a policeman walks past during the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 1, 2024. Iran held the country’s first election since the mass 2022 protests over mandatory hijab laws after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, with questions looming over just how many people will turn out at the polls. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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People drive in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Two women without wearing their mandatory Islamic headscarves walk at the old main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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People walk at the old main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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People walk through a corridor of the Imam mosque in old main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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A girl walks through the old main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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People walk through the Imam mosque at the old main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Two women without wearing their mandatory Islamic headscarves walk through the Imam mosque in old main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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A boy pulls a cart at the old main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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People shop at the old main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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A street musician plays guitar at the old main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 2, 2024. A day after parliamentary election concluded in Iran, hard-liners are leading in initial vote counting in the capital of Tehran, state media reported Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s hard-liners are leading in an initial vote count in the capital Tehran, state media reported Sunday, following a record-low turnout in a parliamentary election.

State-run IRNA news agency and state TV said 1,960 from 5,000 ballots in Tehran had been counted so far, based on an Interior Ministry report updated hourly.

Officials have not yet released turnout figures from Saturday’s election. However, IRNA said it was 41%, based on unofficial reports.

In the last parliamentary election in 2019, only 42% of eligible voters cast a ballot in what was considered to be the lowest turnout since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Hard-liners have controlled the parliament for the past two decades — with chants of “Death to America” often heard while in session.

Under Iranian law, the parliament has a variety of roles, including overseeing the executive branch and voting on treaties. In practice, absolute power in Iran rests with its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Friday’s election was the first since the bloody crackdown on the 2022 nationwide protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

In this picture released by the official website of the Iranian Army on Jan. 19, 2024, a missile is launched during a military drill in southern Iran. The United States and allies are warning Iran that major Western economies will pile new sanctions on Tehran if it moves forward with an emerging plan to provide ballistic missiles to Russia for its war with Ukraine. (Iranian Army via AP)

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A woman casts her ballot during the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 1, 2024. Iran held the country's first election since the mass 2022 protests over mandatory hijab laws after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, with questions looming over just how many people will turn out at the polls. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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A cellphone vendor works at her shop in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Even though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denounced American luxury goods amid years of tensions with the West, consumers still want the phones and the prestige associated with them. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Amini, 22, died on Sept. 16, 2022, after her arrest by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict headscarf law forcing women to cover their hair and entire bodies.

The protests quickly escalated into calls to overthrow Iran’s clerical rulers. In the severe clampdown that followed, over 500 people were killed and nearly 20,000 arrested, according to human rights activists in Iran.

Hard-liners are leading in vote count in Iran’s parliamentary election after record-low turnout