Second Round of Election in Iran Underway

Published May 5th, 2000 - 03:00 GMT

The polling stations opened Friday in 52 towns in Iran for the second round of general elections, Iran radio reported, with reformers staggering from a right-wing backlash after February's first round in which they crushed conservatives.

A total 132 candidates representing the two factions are standing. The 11,010 polling stations were to remain open from 9 a.m. (0430 GMT) to 7 p.m. (1430 GMT).

The seats remain to be decided after the first round in February in which reformist supporters of the president, Mohammad Khatami, won a clear victory.

The BBC correspondent in Iran says that without the run-off seats - and others still being decided in Tehran - the new reformist parliament would not have had a quorum and would not have been able to sit.

He says some hardliners favored that scenario - but the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, played a key role in insisting the second round should take place.

Voting is taking place in 52 constituencies to elect 66 deputies to the Iranian parliament -the Majlis- which has 290 seats.

The vote was being organized by 150,000 officials while 30,000 police were looking after the security of the polling stations, the interior ministry said – (Several Sources)