The March 14 election for Iran's parliament left conservatives with over 70% of the 290 seats. That was a foregone conclusion; most reformist candidates were banned from taking part in the vote. Yet the election may yet prove a turning point in Iran's domestic politics and in Tehran's long cold war with Washington.
A key result was the respectable showing of pragmatic conservatives opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and their emerging alliance with reformists. Tehran's Mayor Mohammed Qalibaf, a likely challenger in next year's presidential election, says a centrist bloc is taking shape. "Our people are tired of...
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