ICC Note: There have been many accolades directed to Iran in the most recent round of elections due to the alleged election of reformers who were voted in to counter the harsh regime politics perpetuated by Ayatollah Khomeini and President Rouhani (despite his more passive rhetoric).  Reformers in Iran who seek to democratic and secularize the government for the benefit of the Iranian people have long worked to secure more political power but are continually “disqualified” from government elections for various nuances that seem targeted only at the democratic reformers. Iran’s government has violently oppressed Iranian Christians and allowing more reformers into governmental elections would gauge better solidarity between Iranian citizens of all faiths.

3/3/2016 Tehran, Iran (NY Times) – Five days after national elections in Iran, the Interior Ministry has yet to release official detailed results, and some analysts are beginning to doubt that it ever will.

While the government and its supporters clearly won a sweeping victory in the capital, the picture in the rest of the country is much more diffuse and may remain that way for some time, if not permanently.

The Interior Ministry, which is overseeing the voting for the 290-seat Parliament and the clerical Assembly of Experts, announced on Tuesday the names of 222 parliamentary candidates who won nationwide. It also announced that there would be a second round of voting for 68 seats in several constituencies in April.

But there has been no official comment on the affiliation of the winning candidates, and there may never be, making it difficult to determine how many seats the various factions have won.

. . .