REUTERS

Turnout for Iran’s parliamentary election, seen as a test of the clerical establishment’s legitimacy, appears to have hit a historic low of around 40 percent, according to unofficial reports in Iranian media yesterday. Heavyweight moderates and conservatives stayed away from Friday’s election and reformists called it unfree and unfair as it was mainly a contest between hardliners and low-key conservatives loyal to Islamic revolutionary ideals.

Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s first reformist president, was among the critics who did not vote on Friday. Imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, a women’s rights advocate, in a statement shared by her family with Reuters, called the election a “sham”. The Hamshahri and Kayhan newspapers both reported that turnout was estimated at about 40 percent, in line with official surveys ahead of the poll estimating about 41 percent of eligible Iranians would vote. The Hamshahri called the turnout “a 25-million slap” to calls for an election boycott, in a front-page headline next to a depiction of a ballot paper smacking US President Joe Biden in the face. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Iran’s “enemies” - a term he normally uses for the United States and Israel - of trying to create despair among Iranian voters.