Hard-liners allied with Ahmadinejad pull ahead in Iranian elections

Tehran: Hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pulled ahead in Iran's parliamentary elections, according to partial results early on Saturday, but the president's critics were making a strong showing that could unsettle his domination of the legislature.

In particular, conservatives who have grown disillusioned with the fiery Ahmadinejad appeared to be gaining ground. If such moderate conservatives do well, it could lead to greater frictions between the parliament and Ahmadinejad.

In 70 contests decided so far out of the 290 seats at stake, pro-Ahmadinejad hard-liners won 35 seats and reformists 13, according to results announced by state television and the official news agency IRNA and reports from local officials.

A slate of conservative critics of Ahmadinejad seized 22 seats so far, according to the results.

Reformists were hoping to at least form an effective minority bloc, larger than their approximately 40 seats in the outgoing parliament.

Reformist candidates were running in only about half of the races nationwide, according to nationwide lists of candidates. The results so far did not include Tehran, where reformist sentiment is strongest.