Moderate-reformist bloc wins more seats in Iran parliamentary elections: media

Tehran: Iranian state TV says that the moderate-reformist bloc has secured more than 20 more seats in parliamentary runoff elections, bringing the bloc closer to a majority in the next legislature.

State TV on Saturday announced winners for 45 of the remaining 68 seats being contested. Among them there are 23 moderate-reformist candidates who support President Hassan Rouhani and a nuclear deal the country reached with world powers last summer. The rest of the winners are divided between hard-liners and independent candidates. Final results are expected later on Saturday.

In February, the moderate-reformist bloc block won a majority of seats where there was a clear winner. Now the bloc needs to win 40 seats in the runoffs to control the 290-seat parliament, which begins work in late May.