But it could also have an impact on future leadership of the Islamic Republic. KENYON: Well, it will likely maintain Iran's general hostility to the West. SIMON: And how is that conservative course likely to play out in the days ahead? But the vote is a sign that the country's leaders want to do what it takes to keep the country on a hard-line conservative course. It's not a heavyweight player in politics in Iran. Now, the parliament - really not that big a deal. Now, this time, ahead of this election, top officials, including the supreme leader, including the president, tried to exhort the electorate to turn out in large numbers, apparently with little effect. Her death sparked massive anti-government protests in what was deemed the biggest public challenge to the government since the Islamic Revolution back in 1979. She'd been picked up for allegedly wearing her Islamic headscarf improperly. This was the first election since the death in 2022 of a young Kurdish Iranian woman, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, in the custody of Iran's morality police. And this vote was held after a rocky period. KENYON: Well, critics, of course, say it's a public repudiation of the cleric-led government. SIMON: Peter, what's being said about the low turnout? Rouhani, by the way, was among those candidates blocked from running for the Assembly of Experts this time. That's how most Iranian elections used to be staged. Some 70% of eligible voters reportedly turned out. President Hassan Rouhani was on the ballot then. And this continues a trend of declining voter participation in the past few years, even as recently as 2017. Calls to boycott the vote - they began to surface well before Election Day, and many Iranians apparently decided to heed those calls, and the result's being described as possibly a record-low turnout. KENYON: But voters showed no inclination to make the government happy. The leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution has also emphasized that people's participation in the voting will make friends of the nation happy and will disappoint the ill-wishers. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Top Iranian officials say a huge turnout in the elections will give the country great advantages in the international arena. Here's how Iran's English-language press TV channel framed the election before polls opened. Iran has long argued that its regular staging of elections is itself a sign that it is, in fact, a democracy, an argument long dismissed by Western officials and other critics. KENYON: Well, the official statement is everything went fine, no problems. NPR's Peter Kenyon joins us from Istanbul. That's a powerful clerical body that's charged with selecting the country's supreme leader. The second ballot was held for Iran's Assembly of Experts. Iran held elections Friday as candidates vied to fill the 290 seats in parliament.
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