The elections, held amid sanctions from the United States and European countries, were the first nation-wide elections in Iran since the 2009 presidential election.

Analysts said Monday's election results showed an emerging divergence inside the conservatives, which were divided into neoconservatives led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and traditional conservatives led by Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

However, as Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei controlled internal and external affairs, Iran's domestic and foreign policies would not be affected by the elections, they said.

SURE WIN

According to the Interior Ministry on Monday, 225 of the 290 seats in the new parliament were filled in the first round and the fate of the remaining 65 would be decided in a run-off vote, likely to be held in late April.

As analysts expected, loyalists to supreme leader Khamenei and powerful clerics, composing the United Front of Principalists, won the majority of about 75 percent in the first round of the elections.

This result matched analysts' predictions.

Analysts believed a reformist boycott on the elections and Khamenei's support of the voting had secured the victory of the conservatives.

Analysts said reformists, led by former president Mohammad Khatami, advocated implementing free and moderate policies in the country and compromising with the West.

However, after the 2009 presidential election, leaders of reformists gradually faded from Iranian politics.

Khatami called on the reformists to boycott Monday's parliamentary elections, saying they would not be free and fair as only about 100 of the approved 3,444 candidates were reformists.

When the results of the elections were released, the reformists had been reduced to only 19 parliamentary seats from the 60 they held in the previous parliament.

In the meantime, Khamenei publicly stressed the importance of the parliamentary elections several times, saying participation of Iranians in the polling will have "messages both for the enemies of Iran and for its friends."

Analysts said, as Khamenei had the final say of all Iranian national affairs, the supreme leader's political stance would affect the way people voted, especially those from lower classes.

According to the Interior Ministry, the turnout of the first round of elections was above 64 percent, higher than the 55.4 percent recorded in the previous elections.

Although the second round is yet to be held, analysts say the Iranian conservatives are sure to win.

EMERGING DIVERGENCE

Candidates in the elections were mainly conservatives from the United Front of Principalists, the Islamic Resistance Front and the Islamic Union, which all support Khamenei.

According to the results released by the Interior Ministry, the United Front of Principalists led by Larijani had won 75 percent of the seats in the new parliament.

However, analysts said, the political orientation of elected candidates was not obvious, as 54 elected lawmakers were nominated by both the United Front of Principalists and the Islamic Resistance Front led by Ahmadinejad. Some of the elected lawmakers would probably switch to the other party after the new parliament was formed.

Since last April, Iran's neoconservatives and traditional conservatives have been divided on issues of personnel nomination, governmental organization and fighting corruption.

Several ministers were subjected to inquiries or impeached by the parliament and even Ahmadinejad was required to face a parliamentary inquiry.

Meanwhile, Khamenei's support for traditional conservatives had also seriously dented the national influence of the neoconservatives.

LITTLE IMPACT ON INTERNAL, EXTERNAL POLICIES

Analysts said the first round of the parliamentary elections had shown that Khamenei still wielded huge influence over Iranian politics. Internal disputes within the conservatives would not be serious enough to shake the country's stability.

Under the pressure of stringent sanctions imposed by the West, the main concerns of Iranians were the sliding economy, currency depreciation and soaring prices.

Analysts believe the issue underlying all these problems is the nuclear standoff and the will of the supreme leader will dominate the solution of the crisis.

Recently, Iran has reiterated its will to resume nuclear talks and adopted measures such as inviting experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit its Parchin military base.

Analysts believe Iran will not totally give up nuclear enrichment activities, but the gate to a political solution is still open if Iran can verify its peaceful purpose and the West can respect Iran's right for utilizing nuclear power in a peaceful way under the Non-proliferation Treaty.