Iran holds parliamentary elections; hard-line conservatives expected to expand in power. Voting was held on the 1st for 290 seats in Iran's parliamentary elections.
In this election, a quarter of the people who wanted to run for office were disqualified through preliminary screening by the authorities. Some of those who were disqualified were members of the reform group, which emphasizes dialogue with the West. On the other hand, citizens expressed concerns about the deepening conflict with the Western world, saying things like, ``The people are weakened by economic sanctions from the West''