Armenians elected to Iran’s parliament named

Two of the four Armenian candidates running as for Iran’s parliament have won seats in the legislature.
According to preliminary election results, Karen Khanlarian and Jorge Abrahamian are the elected representatives from the north and south, respectively.
Speaking to Tert.am, Khanlarian said that he received 74% votes in the northern constituency.
Abrahamian remained the only Armenian candidate in the south after all the other contenders withdrew from the campaign.
“The Armenian community had a very active turnout, about 12,000 Iranian Armenians headed to the polls,” Khanlarian told our correspondent.
Initially, nine Armenians joined the electoral campaign, but five later withdrew from the race.
Khanlarian added that the total turnout in the country was high, with 31 million out of the 55 million voting age population participating in the polls.
“It is now a bit difficult for me to describe the general situation, but interesting changes are expected in the Majilis in terms of the [political] forces’ arrangement. No accurate estimates are available at the moment, but I think the election outcomes will become clear this night,” he said.