Iranians voted Friday in a parliamentary election likely to reinforce Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's power over rival hardliners led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iranian leaders were looking for a high turnout to ease an acute crisis of legitimacy caused by Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009 when widespread accusations of fraud plunged the Islamic republic into the worst unrest of its 33-year history.
Voting to elect 290 members to the parliament, known as the Majlis, ended at 6pm local time with about 48 million Iranians eligible to cast ballots.
The vote in Iran is only a limited test of political opinion since leading reformist groups stayed out.
"Whenever there has been more enmity towards Iran, the importance of the elections has been greater," Khamenei, 72, said after casting his vote before television cameras.
"The arrogant powers are bullying us to maintain their prestige. A high turnout will be better for our nation ... and for preserving security."
