Iran conservatives stay ahead in vote count

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Conservatives are leading with 120 seats against 46 for their reformist opponents in an election for Iran's 290-seat parliament, Iran's state Press TV said on Saturday, citing the Interior Ministry.

Iranians voted on Friday in an election that was expected to keep conservatives in control of the assembly after many reformists, the staunchest critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, were barred from running.

The English-language satellite channel said four seats had gone to independents. Thirty seats will be decided in run-off elections after candidates failed to secure enough votes for an outright win.

Press TV said results also showed a "landslide victory of over 80 percent" for conservatives in the battle for Tehran's 30-seat constituency. It did not give the number of seats won.

Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi said earlier in the day that final results for Tehran might not be announced for two days.

Iran's Fars News Agency gave slightly different figures. It said of the 170 seats decided, 125 had gone to conservatives, 35 to reformists and 10 to independents.

Determining political allegiances is not easy in Iran where there is no tradition of disciplined party membership and loyalties can often shift.

(Reporting by Edmund Blair, editing by Tim Pearce)