Iran election: Reformists win all 30 Tehran seats

This is something my fellow Patheos writer, Kaveh Mousavi, will surely write about over at On the Margin of Error. This is really, really encouraging in a world seemingly full of discouraging news... From the BBC:

Allies of Iran's reformist President Hassan Rouhani have won a landslide victory in Tehran, in the first parliamentary vote since Iran signed a nuclear deal with world powers.

With 90% of the votes counted, the pro-Rouhani List of Hope is set to take all 30 parliamentary seats in the capital.

The leading conservative candidate Gholamali Haddad-Adel is in 31st place.

Millions voted on Friday to elect the 290-seat parliament as well as members of the Assembly of Experts.

The 88-member assembly appoints Iran's Supreme Leader and might end up choosing a successor to Ayatollah Khamenei, who is 76 and has suffered ill-health....

Reformists, who want better relations with the outside world and more freedoms at home, were hoping to gain influence in the conservative-dominated bodies.

But of 12,000 people who registered as candidates, only half were allowed to stand, including just 200 moderates.

This was the first election to be held since last year's deal between Iran and world powers over the country's nuclear programme and the lifting of sanctions.

BBC Persian's Ali Hamedani says the economy was a key issue in the process.

With sanctions lifted and Western investors beginning to return to Iran, there are high hopes for an improvement in daily life, he says.

Reformists and moderates say they are targeting greater foreign investment which, our correspondent says, will create jobs for young people.

It was really disappointing to hear so many people in the us having a go at Obama's administration for the deals with Iran, especially as many detractors hadn't even read the deals. I will leave you with the awesome John Oliver:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJTvahPrtH0[/youtube]