Insight - Moderates test hardliners' grip on power in Iran vote

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani waves as he arrives to attend a ceremony marking the 37th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, in Tehran's Azadi (liberty) Square February 11, 2016. REUTERS/President.ir/Handout via Reuters

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Friday’s vote for Iran’s parliament and the Assembly of Experts, the body that will pick the next supreme leader, have assumed an importance well beyond the perennial battles between hardliners entrenched in power and reformists seeking to unseat them.

These are the first elections since Tehran reached an accord with major powers to curb its nuclear programme, leading to the removal of most of the punitive international sanctions that have strangled the economy over the past decade.