Why Isn't the American Media Reporting This?

Iran – legislature and Assembly of Experts (Feb. 26)

Iran's first elections after the country concluded a controversial nuclear deal with Western powers took place Feb. 26, with proponents, led by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, upsetting the conservative hardliners who opposed the agreement. In an unexpected outcome, the elections for both the Iranian legislature and the Assembly of Experts (the body charged with selecting the country's supreme leader, currently the conservative Ali Khamenei) resulted in far more moderates being elected than some analysts had even believed possible. Both bodies are now divided between reformists, moderate conservatives who have backed the nuclear deal and some economic reforms, and the conservative hardliners who had previously been the largest faction.

According to the Associated Press, reformists in the legislature won 85 seats, moderate conservatives took 73 seats, and hardliners held on to 68 seats, with five seats reserved for religious minorities and an additional 59 seats headed to a runoff in April. However, the New York Times estimated that the reformists and moderates jointly won about 80 to 90 seats, with the conservatives taking a similar total and an additional 60 going to independents. The fact that many candidates, particularly potential reformist legislators, are essentially blank slates (intentionally, so as to pass through an anti-democratic screening process run by conservatives) can blur the results. Candidates don't run as members of any specific party, and some candidates appeared on lists put forth by more than one faction, so an exact count is all but impossible.

And the meaning of these results is just as opaque. The Guardian collected some cynical views on the election from U.S. analysts, while Vox makes the case that these elections are potentially game-changing in the both the short and long-term.