Iranian local elections, 2017

Iranian local elections, 2017

19 May 2017
Alliance Reformists Principlists Last election 88 / 479 (18%) 240 / 479 (50%) Swing 34≈35% 22≈26% Provincial capitals per Tasnim[1] 166 / 315 (53%) 75 / 315 (24%) per Iran[2] 165 / 320 (52%) 91 / 320 (28%)

Local elections were held in Iran on 19 May 2017 to elect members of the City and Village Councils simultaneously with the twelfth presidential election.

Campaign

Tehran

In January 2017, refomists started working with moderates and supporters of Hassan Rouhani to compile a shared electoral list of candidates for City Council of Tehran.^[3] In April 2017, the Moderation and Development Party joined the Reformists' Supreme Council for Policymaking,^[4] the body responsible for picking the candidates included in the list.^[5] The final list under the brand name The List of Hope, drawn criticism from reformists^[5] but was eventually endorsed by Mohammad Khatami. It included only 2 out of the 13 incumbent reformist councilors^[6] and several well-known reformist figures were not included. Some reform-minded non-partisans were also expected to feature in the list, including whistleblower Yashar Soltani, social activists Leila Arshad and Ameneh Shirafkan, and Taraneh Yalda, a cityplanner.^[7] As a result, two other lists emerged: Omīd-e Eṣlāḥāṭ (Persian: امید اصلاحات‎, lit. 'Reforms' Hope'‎), partially made up of the incumbent reformist councilors and Šaḥr-e Dīgar (Persian: شهر دیگر‎, lit. 'Alternative City'‎) by independent activists.^[8]

The conservative camp and its newly-established umbrella organization Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces that supported the incumbent mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, unanimously endorsed the list published under the name Ḵedmaṭ (Persian: خدمت‎, lit. 'Service'‎).^[5][9]

Several candidates who were initially approved, including former Islamic Iran Participation Front MP Ali Tajernia, Office for Strengthening Unity activist Abdollah Momeni and Emad Behavar of the Freedom Movement of Iran among others, were declared disqualified after Revolutionary Guards Intelligence agency reportedly forced the Central Election Supervisory Board.^[10]

Results

Provincial capitals

Political distribution of 134 seats for nine major cities according to KhabarOnline report.^[11]

  Reformists (73.88%)

  Principlists (14.17%)

  Independents (11.94%)

315 Province capital seats won by political factions according to Tasnim News Agency report. (Excluding twenty seats for Bandar Abbas and Sari)^[1]

  Reformists (52.69%)

  Principlists (23.49%)

  Independents (23.64%)

320 Province capital seats won by political factions according to Iran newspaper report. (Excluding seats for Ahvaz and two of Bojnourd seats)^[2]

  Reformists (51.56%)

  Principlists (28.43%)

  Independents (20%)

KhabarOnline reported the results for the nine major city councils as follows:^[11]

Pro-Rouhani administration newspaper Iran^[2] and allegedly Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Tasnim News Agency^[1] published detailed reports on the results, with the number of seats won by each bloc as following:

Tehran

Highlights

During the elections, a 60-year-old bird seller was placed first in Khorram Abad, campaigning with walking the streets introducing himself to people. In Rasht, a teacher who was sacked after the 1979 Iranian Revolution as well as a street sweeper were elected.^[13]

References

Elections and referendums in Iran
Presidential elections	1980 1981 (Jul) 1981 (Oct) 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Parliamentary elections	1906 1909 1914 1921 1923 1926 1928 1930 1933 1935 1937 1939 1941 1944 1947 1950 1952 1954 1956 1960 1961 1963 1967 1971 1975 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Senate elections	1949 1954 1960 1963 1967 1971 1975
Assembly of Experts elections	1982 1990 1998 2006 2016
Local councils elections	1999 2003 2006 2013 2017 2021
Constitutional Assembly elections	1925 1949 1967 1979
Referendums	1953 1963 1979 (Mar) 1979 (Dec) 1989
List of elections