High Iran poll turnout claimed

Iran's conservatives were hoping for a strong turnout

Voter turnout in Iran's controversial election may have been higher than expected, according to early estimates.

A top election official, Ahmad Azimzadeh, said more than 30% of voters went to the polls in the Tehran area.

A pre-election government survey suggested the turnout would be as low as 10% in the large cities, though it predicted 30% participation nationwide.

Reformists say a victory for hardliners is inevitable after about 2,500 pro-reform candidates were disqualified.

The election was condemned as neither free nor fair by the US, by an official using unusually strong language.

Credibility test

First results from outlying areas showed wins for conservative candidates but moderate reformists are standing in some of the larger constituencies so it may be some time before a clear picture of the voting emerges, observers say.

You see how those who are against the Iranian nation and the revolution are trying so hard to prevent people from going to the polls Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Voters' views in Tehran Iran election in pictures

The final results are not expected until next week.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Tehran says that much of the early attention is being focused on the turnout figures, particularly with the country's supreme leader urging everyone to vote while some reformists called for a boycott.

If the conservatives are returned with a low voter turnout behind them, their credibility and legitimacy will be in question, our correspondent says.

But if they win a respectable number of votes, it will be a different question, he adds.

An interior ministry source quoted by Reuters news agency said early returns backed the higher-than-expected participation rates in Tehran and showed a national turnout of about 50%.

The deadline for voting was extended several times on Friday but that is not unusual, correspondents say.

Turnout reached 67% in the 2000 elections, when reformists won two-thirds of the 290-seat Majlis, or parliament.

Bans and barbs

Many reformist candidates were barred from running this time by the conservative Council of Guardians, an unelected 12-member body which vets elections.

The Council said the disqualifications were necessary because of the candidates' alleged indifference to Islam and to the constitution, or accused them of questioning the supreme leader's powers.

Who runs Iran? How Iran votes Key people and parties

The US state department condemned the ban by the Council in what correspondents said was unusually strong terms.

"Candidates have been barred from participating in the elections in an attempt to limit the choice of the Iranian people for their government," spokesman Adam Ereli said.

"These actions do not represent free and fair elections and are not consistent with international norms."

The biggest of Iran's reform parties, the Participation Front, decided not to contest the poll after many of its top members were disqualified. But other reform factions closer to the centre of the political spectrum did take part.