A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in the capital, Tehran, on February 26, 2016. © IRNA

Latest results of Iran’s twin elections show that candidates belonging to the Principalist camp are in the lead countrywide while reformists are at the helm in Tehran constituency.

According to the Iranian officials, with 90 percent of the votes counted by early morning on Sunday, 30 seats belonging to the capital city at the parliament have been won by reformist figures, though the result is still prone to change pending further vote count.

The Iranian Interior Ministry’s latest report on Sunday said a total of 3,846 ballot boxes pertaining to parliamentary elections have been counted so far containing 2.633 million votes, adding that counting ballots from remaining boxes is still going on. Also a total of over 1.506 million votes cast in the Assembly of Experts’ elections in Tehran have been so far counted with nationwide count going on in parallel.

Based on the latest count, all parliamentary seats related to Tehran constituency have been won by reformist figures with former vice president Mohammad Reza Aref leading the capital city’s parliamentary list followed by Ali Motahhari, Alireza Mahjoub, Soheila Jelodarzadeh and Elias Hazrati, all reformist figures.

Meanwhile, the initial results of the Assembly of Experts elections in Tehran Province released by the Interior Ministry show that Chairman of the Expediency Council and former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and President Hassan Rouhani are leading the votes.

Current member of the Assembly of Experts, Mohsen Qomi, and Tehran’s interim Friday Prayers leaders, Mohammad Aqa Emami, and Mohammad Ali Movahhedi, stand in the third to fifth places.

Secretary of the Guardian Council Ahmad Jannati, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi and current chairman of the Assembly of Experts, Mohammad Yazdi, are 10th to 12th, while Mohammad Taqi Mesbah, who is also a member of the Assembly, stands at 16th place.

At least 33 million out of the 55 million eligible voters took part in Iran’s 5th Assembly of Experts and 10th parliamentary elections on Friday.

As many as 4,844 candidates, including about 500 women, were competing for a place in the 290-seat parliament. A total of 159 candidates ran for the 88-member Assembly of Experts. Members of the Assembly serve eight-year terms while MPs are elected every four years.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front is leading in six out of 12 regions in the first round of regional elections, Reuters reports citing exit polls.

Le Pen and her niece, Marion Marechal-Le Pen, are both set to take more than 40 percent of the vote in the north and southeast of the country, TV exit polls showed on Sunday.

Assemblies in the 13 regions of metropolitan France and in four overseas territories were being elected. Results for Paris are not yet in.

The Ifop, OpinionWay and Ipsos project polling agencies predict that the National Front won between 27 and 30 percent of the ballots in Sunday’s voting, followed by former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party, The Republicans, and President Francois Hollande’s governing Socialists.

If confirmed, it would be the first time the National Front has captured any of France’s regions as well as boost Marine Le Pen’s chances for the presidential election in 2017.

The far-right National Front (FN), led by Marine Le Pen, has been expected to secure at least two seats: one in the northern region of North-Pas-de-Calais, and another in the southern Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, where Le Pen’s niece Marion is running.

Voters from the east of France, from Alsace to Burgundy, as well as from parts of the center and south, are also expected to choose La Pen and her party.

Since the Paris attacks, Marine Le Pen has been focusing her attention on security and the immigration crisis. Her strong emphasis on these issues in the final days of campaigning has attracted a significant number of new supporters.

A rather high abstention rate of nearly 50 percent is also expected to influence the returns.

Gearoid O Colmain, a French political analyst, believes that Le Pen has been successful due to her rhetoric, which is quite clear for the French.

“It [National Front] speaks the language people understand,” he said. “People say ‘She seems to be the only person is talking sense around here.’ When she says we need to support Assad [to fight terrorism] – she is right.”

The elections will include two rounds, with a candidate needing to secure more than 50 percent of the vote to win in the first round, and at least 10 percent to reach the second round, which takes place if no candidate gets more than 50 percent in the first.

Regional elections are regarded as a launch pad for the presidential elections in 2017, and a win could significantly boost a candidate’s chances.

Iran Election: Principlists lead votes countrywide, reformists win Tehran

Marine Le Pen’s National Front leads in first round of French regional elections – exit poll