Iranian Moderates Win Majority in Parliament, Clerical Body

Iranian moderates have won a majority in parliament and a top clerical body charged with selecting the next supreme leader.

An Iranian hard-liner raises her palm with Persian that reads, "I'm ready to sacrifice myself for the Supreme Leader," during an anti-British campaign aimed at claiming reformist rivals of being backed by the BBC and the British government, in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 24, 2016. Iranian moderates won a 59 percent majority in the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body which will choose the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been Iran's top decision-maker since 1989. The 76-year-old underwent prostate surgery in 2014, leading to renewed speculations about the state of his health. AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

TEHRAN, Iran—Iranian voters dealt hard-liners a serious blow in elections for parliament and an influential clerical body, favoring reformists and relative moderates who support last year’s nuclear deal in the country’s first elections since the landmark agreement, results released Monday showed.

Reformists, who favor expanded social freedoms and engagement with the West, won at least 85 seats, according to final results released by the Interior Ministry and broadcast on state TV. Moderate conservatives—who split with the hard-line camp and support the nuclear deal—won 73, giving the two blocs together a majority over hard-liners in the 290-seat assembly.

The vote isn’t expected to herald large-scale change in Iranian policies, but may make it easier for President Hassan Rouhani to deliver in areas such as promoting social freedoms and reforming the economy.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot during parliamentary and Experts Assembly elections in Tehran, Iran, on Feb. 26, 2016. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP