Iran's moderate President Hassan Rouhani won strong public backing and his reformist allies made stunning gains in parliamentary elections, partial results showed Sunday, reducing the potential for opponents to block domestic reform plans.
An AFP tally of results from 206 of the remaining 260 seats had the main conservative list winning 61, the List of Hope alliance between pro-Rouhani reformists and moderates 43, and independents 51 .
The head of the pro-Rouhani coalition, Mohammad Reza Aref, a former vice president, was in first place in Tehran, with 1,403,608 votes.
There was also good news for Rouhani and his key ally Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the second election Iranians voted in Friday, for the Assembly of Experts, which has the task of selecting Khamenei's successor.
Rouhani and Rafsanjani, a former two-term president, held third and first places.
Turnout in the election was solid at around 60 percent, slightly less than the 64 percent of 2012 .
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