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    May 05, 2012

Opposition Pulls Ahead in Iran's Elections

   VOA News
   Electoral workers count ballots in a polling station, in Tehran, Iran,
   May 4, 2012. Photo: AP
   Electoral workers count ballots in a polling station, in Tehran, Iran,
   May 4, 2012.

   Preliminary results from Iran's parliamentary elections give a decisive
   edge to opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a shift that could
   shape the 2013 presidential election.
   News agencies said Saturday that the results of Friday's second round
   of polling show strong support for the religious leadership, including
   loyalists to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
   Sixty-five seats in Iran's 290 seat parliament were at stake in the
   second round of polling.
   Conservative opponents of Ahmadinejad won a majority of seats in the
   first round of voting in March.
   Analysts say relations between the the president and the supreme leader
   have become strained. The president upset Khamenei loyalists last year
   when he challenged the supreme leader's authority in appointing top
   government officials.
   Ahmadinejad is in his second and final term, but the outcome of
   Friday's polling could influence the election of his successor.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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