Khamenei's clerics set to trounce Ahmadinejad camp in Iran vote
Source: Reuters
Khamenei's clerics set to trounce Ahmadinejad camp in Iran vote
DUBAI | Fri May 4, 2012 9:01am EDT
(Reuters) - Iranians voted on Friday in a run-off parliamentary election in which the Islamic republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set for a resounding victory over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, both conservative hardliners.
Khamenei's majority will mean a tougher final year for Ahmadinejad in his second and last term, and with reformists mostly sidelined and opposition leaders under house arrest, the vote is purely a test of the popularity of Khamenei's clerical establishment.
Some 65 of 290 seats are being contested after Khamenei loyalists won more than 75 percent in the first round in March.
The election will have no impact on Tehran's nuclear row with the West or its foreign affairs, which are already determined by Khamenei, and will extend his influence in the 2013 presidential election.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/us-iran-election-idUSBRE8430PH20120504