Tehran - Female candidates who ran in Iran's elections last
week are now confronting disappointment after far fewer women made it
into the new parliament than they had hoped.
Only 14 women have secured a seat in parliament, with nine more
facing run-offs in April, Iran's Interior Ministry spokesperson and head
of election headquarters Mohammed Hassan Moghimi said on Wednesday.
Although the result means five more women have made it into
parliament than in the previous election, the candidates had hoped to
gain 30% of the 290 seats.
If all nine women facing runoffs are successful, the number of women
in parliament would total 23, meaning female representation in Iran's
parliament would remain at less than 10%.
A total of 221 candidates were directly elected after they reached
the 25% mark, leaving 69 seats contested in the run-offs.
Iran's hardliners were able to hold their ground in several
provinces.
President Hassan Rowhani's reformers succeeded in securing all 30
seats in the key constituency of Tehran, ousting several well-known
hardliners from parliament, including leading candidate Gholam Ali
Hadad Adel.
