Conservative clerics have cemented their grip on a key power base in Iran, winning an overwhelming majority of seats in the new Assembly of Experts, according to final election results yesterday.
Conservative candidates won at least 70 of the 86 seats in the assembly, a religious body charged with appointing and in theory dismissing the country's supreme leader, a position currently held by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Parliamentary speaker and conservative faction leader, Mr Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri, said Friday's poll, which came 17 months after the reformist Mr Mohammad Khatami won a landslide presidential election, "proved the power and stability of the Islamic system".
Iran's leaders had appealed for a strong turnout but less than 18 million of 38.5 million eligible voters took part, for a turnout of just over 46 per cent.