Pat Dollard | Young Americans

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the lead in Iran’s parliamentary elections, according to partial results early Saturday, but reformists showed strength in some cities where the clerical leadership allowed them to compete.

Reformist leaders pushed for Iranians to vote Friday, hoping to prevent a sweep by Ahmadinejad allies after the country’s clerics threw many liberal candidates out of the race.

Results early Saturday from 31 contests—a fraction of the 290 seats at stake—showed the hard-liners winning 19 seats, reformists eight and moderate conservatives five, according to results compiled from local officials speaking to The Associated Press and reports from the official IRNA and semi-official Fars news agencies.

Nearly half the seats won by hard-liners so far were in districts where no reformist candidates were running—a sign of the impact after reformist ranks were dramatically cut by the cleric-led Guardian Council. The returns, mostly from smaller towns, were insufficient to determine any solid trend.

Reformist candidates were running in only about half of the races nationwide, according to nationwide lists of candidates, though some reformist leaders earlier said they were in 90 races. The unelected Guardian Council rejected some 1,700 candidates, most reformists, on grounds of insufficient loyalty to Islam or Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Many Iranians who support liberal reforms spent Friday deliberating with friends and family, going back and forth between two options: vote and give legitimacy to an election many of them saw as unfair, or boycott and ensure an even stronger conservative domination of parliament.

In the end, Hesam Javadi, a 30-year-old computer technician, voted.

“We can’t stop the rain,” he said after casting his ballot for reformists at a north Tehran polling station. “But we can at least put an umbrella over our heads in self-defense.”

IRNA quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying that the turnout was estimated between 55 to 65 percent, up from the 51 percent in 2004 elections. Some 44 million Iranians of over 18 years of age across the country were eligible to vote.

Reformists are hoping a strong turnout can win them a large enough minority bloc in parliament to at least have an impact. The outgoing parliament has about 40 reformists.

Perhaps the more crucial test will be of Ahmadinejad’s support among conservatives. Some have become disillusioned with the president since he came to office in 2005 and have formed a slate of candidates competing against a list of supporters of the president.

If they do well, it could raise the chances Ahmadinejad will face a challenge from moderate conservatives in presidential elections next year. Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, often touted as a possible candidate for president, is said to back the list of Ahmadinejad’s critics.

In one key race, Ali Larijani—the former top nuclear negotiator, who stepped down after differences with Ahmadinejad—won a seat in the clerical city of Qom, the Fars news agency said. Some have speculated the conservative Larijani will run for president in 2009.

Conservative critics say Ahmadinejad has fumbled efforts to fix the economy of this oil-rich nation—hit by high inflation and unemployment and fuel shortages. They blame his fiery manner for worsening the standoff with the West, bringing on U.N. sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program. They say he too harshly rejects input from moderate conservatives.

Ahead of the vote, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—who holds final say in all state matters in Iran—appeared to give his support to the Ahmadinejad camp. He urged Iranians to elect the candidates the United States opposes and “whose loyalties are to Islam and justice.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack criticized the elections, saying “in essence the results … are cooked. They are cooked in the sense that the Iranian people were not able to vote for a full range of people.”

“We urge Iranian leaders to end interference in future elections, including the 2009 presidential election,” McCormack added.

Some 4,500 candidates nationwide are running for parliament’s 290 seats in Friday’s vote. Despite the partial returns early Saturday, final results will take days.

Voting in Tehran appeared slow for much of the day, until the evening when it seemed to step up considerably. Authorities kept polls open an extra five hours to let in more voters.

Mohammad Sadri, a stationery store owner in Tehran’s historic bazaar, said he voted for Ahmadinejad for president in 2005, “and now I’ve voted for his allies to help him to continue his plans effectively.”

The 74-year-old said he and his wife were voting “to protect the blood of martyrs” who sacrificed themselves for Iran’s Islamic revolution.

Ahmadinejad’s allies are largely running on a slate known as the United Front of Principlists, referring to their adherence to the revolution’s principles. Their ranks include some of the top figures of the conservative movement, including the current parliament speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel and his deputy Mohammad Reza Bahonar, who is widely seen as the brain behind Ahmadinejad’s rise to power.

After sunset, significant lines appeared for the first time at dozens of polling stations, particularly in the better-off districts of northern Tehran, seen as a stronghold for reformists.

“I was undecided up to the last minute because all the best candidates were disqualified. But I’m voting for reformers to keep out those who lead a dictatorship in the name of Islam,” said Homa Foroughi, who voted late in the day.

Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a member of the clerical leadership seen as a top rival of Ahmadinejad, tried to convince those discouraged by the disqualifications to vote.

“To be reluctant and say ‘Why should we participate in the election?’ is a kind of self-destruction,” said Rafsanjani, according to the state news agency. “This will lead to the absence of their favorite candidates in the council.”

Khamenei and other top clerics and government officials have said a strong turnout will be a blow to the United States, Iran’s enemy No. 1, showing that Iranians support their system.

But historically, when turnout has been higher, reformists have done better. In 2004, many reformists were barred from running and hard- liners swept the election. Turnout was 51 percent, low compared to 2000 when around 80 percent participated, sweeping reformists into parliament.

Many people Friday were more concerned with shopping to prepare for the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, next week. Shoppers on Tehran’s main streets could be seen coming out of shops with plates of herbs and bowls of goldfish—symbols of the spring holiday.

“If I get to the polls, I’ll vote for reformists. They don’t bother women,” said Sherine Faraji as she shopped. She wore a tight-fitting jacket and a colorful head scarf that showed much of her hair—a far looser dress code than conservatives support.