Hardline Guards make early gains in restricted Iran election

Poll workers empty full ballot boxes after the parliamentary election voting time ended in Tehran, Iran February 22, 2020. Nazanin Tabatabaee/ WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS

DUBAI (Reuters) - Candidates affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards looked on course to win a parliamentary majority on Saturday, reportedly leading in the race in Tehran and across the country after a vote stacked in favour of loyalists to the supreme leader.

The Interior Ministry said a list of candidates affiliated with the Guards led in the capital. An unofficial tally by Reuters shows hardliners have so far won about 178 seats in the 290-seat parliament, independents 43 and moderates 17.