Fists fly as hardliners take Iranian election

Iranian conservative MP Ghodratollah Alikhani, second right, is prevented from confronting reformist MP Reza Yousefian, left of picture, after a quarrel during the first session of parliament on Monday after Iran's election. PHOTO: AFP

Iran's hardliners formally secured enough seats to retake control of Iran's next parliament, while tension over an election denounced by reformers as a "historic fiasco" but proclaimed free and fair by conservatives degenerated on Monday into a shouting match inside the chamber.

The conservative victory, which was met with disappointment in Washington and denunciation by the EU, denies liberals an important forum to challenge hardliner policies and appointees who have final say in almost all affairs. It also leaves reformist President Mohammad Khatami without a key source of support in his foundering drive to ease social and political restrictions.

Interior Ministry figures released on Monday showed conservative candidates considered loyal to Iran's Islamic rulers took at least 149 seats in the 290-seat parliament, which has been controlled by pro-reform lawmakers since their landslide win four years ago. That put conservatives past the 146-seat benchmark for a clear majority in the next parliament, which will be seated in June.

Reformers and self-described independents had taken about 65 seats in the legislature, according to the tally. The final count was expected yesterday.

The results were expected before Friday's vote. Reformers widely boycotted the election after more than 2,400 liberal candidates were banned from running by the hardline Guardian Council.

The nationwide turnout stood at slightly more than 50 percent, a noticeable drop from the 67.2 percent in the last parliamentary elections in 2000. In Tehran, the Iranian capital and the country's biggest city, just 33 percent of voters turned out, the Interior Ministry said.

Iranian lawmakers from opposing sides traded accusations -- and occasional insults -- on Monday during the first session of the outgoing legislature since the election.

"Victory in a competition without rivals is not epic but a historic fiasco," reformist lawmaker Rasoul Mehrparvar said during an open session of parliament broadcast live on state-run radio.

Mehrparvar, barred from seeking re-election, said hardliners must await God's punishment.

"I hope you will be questioned on Judgment Day before God because you are not responsive to the people in this world," he said, addressing the head of the hardline Guardian Council.

The comments angered the hardliners.

"The vote was not a sham election. It was a fair and free election," conservative Ghodratollah Alikhani said in an emotional speech. He gestured so strongly that his clerical turban fell from his head to the floor.

Alikhani said he was unhappy with the mass disqualification of candidates but would not accept reformers' criticism of Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.

"If, while debating resignations, you object to sacred values or the leader, I'll be the first to stand up to you with all my power," an angry Alikhani said.

When reformist Reza Yousefian told him "Don't holler," Alikhani shot back, "Shut up, you idiot," as he ran toward Yousefian, throwing punches in the air. Lawmakers intervened to keep Alikhani back.

In Tehran, previously a liberal stronghold, the new conservative group "Developers of Islamic Iran" was firmly in the lead.

The group is led by Gholamali Haddadadel, a conservative figure with a family relationship to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The US expressed disappointment with the election results, but the Bush administration continued to hope for revival of a reformist trend in the country.

"Our view is that the pressure for reform in Iran, the pressure for democracy in Iran, is going to continue, notwithstanding the setback that's represented by the elections," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

EU foreign ministers denounced the election as undemocratic and warned of a new chill on efforts to warm relations between Tehran and the West.