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The elections took place amidst a serious political crisis that developed due to the January 2004 decision of the conservative vetting body, the Council of Guardians, to ban thousands of candidates from running -- nearly half of the total. A vast number of reformists, including some of their leaders, and particularly members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), were barred from running. In many parts of Iran, there weren't even enough independent candidates approved, so the reformists couldn't form an alliance with them. Out of a possible 285 seats (5 seats are reserved for religious minorities: Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians), the participating reformist parties could only introduce 191 candidates. Some reformist parties, like the IIPF, announced that they would not vote (although they specially mentioned they are not boycotting the elections); however, some moderate reformists, including President Mohammed Khatami, urged citizens to vote in order to deny the conservative candidates an easy majority.
While many pro-reform social and political figures, including Shirin Ebadi, had asked people not to vote, the official turnout was about 51%. Even in TehranCapitals in Asia Tehran (also spelled Teheran ( or in Persian), population 11,050,000 ( metropolitan: 15,000,000), is the capital of Iran. More than half of the country's industry is based there. Industries include manufacturing cars, electronic and elect and its suburbs, a stronghold of reformist sympathies, turnout was about 28%, and one of the conservative alliances, Etelaf-e Abadgaran-e Iran-e Eslami, won all of the city's 30 seats. There are rumors that some voters were transferred to Tehran or other big cities from other areas by some of the parties, and a claim that the Municipality of Tehran, whose mayor backed the same alliance, was advertising for the alliance illegally, using the government's budget.
The day before the election, the reformist newspapers Yas-e-noYas-e-no ( in Persian) was a reformist newspaper in Iran, unofficially an outlet of the Islamic Iran Participation Front. On February 18, 2004, the Iranian judiciary banned the newspaper, perhaps temporarily, only one day before the parliamentary election and SharghShargh ( in Persian) is the most popular reformist newspaper in Iran. It is managed by Taghi Rahmanian, and its chief editor is Mohammad Ghouchani. Some people claim that the newpaper has a hidden agenda of helping the political goals of the Executives of were banned.
The preliminary results of the elections showed a victory by the conservatives. A basic comparison of the partial lists indicated that even among the seats where the reformist alliance had a candidate, only 28% (30 out of 107) were elected.
See also: Politics of IranThe December 1979 constitution, and its 1989 amendment, define the political, economic, and social order of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It declares that Shi'a Islam of the Twelver ( Jaafari) sect is Iran's official religion. The country is governed by s
