Mideast Iran Elections
In front of a portrait of late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani casts his ballot for the parliamentary el...
In front of a portrait of late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani casts his ballot for the parliamentary elections at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. The balloting for the 290-member parliament is the first major voting since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. (AP Photo/ISNA, Ruhollah Vahdati)
Mideast Iran Elections
An Iranian Jewish couple casts their ballots for the parliamentary elections, in their polling station, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. The b...
An Iranian Jewish couple casts their ballots for the parliamentary elections, in their polling station, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. The balloting for the 290-member parliament is the first major voting since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. Under the Iranian constitution Jewish community has one representative in the parliament. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mideast Iran Elections
Iranian Jews enter their polling station to vote during the parliamentary elections, as a police officer stands guard, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March...
Iranian Jews enter their polling station to vote during the parliamentary elections, as a police officer stands guard, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. The balloting for the 290-member parliament is the first major voting since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. Under the Iranian constitution Jewish community has a representative in the parliament. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mideast Iran Elections
Iranian Jews check the list of their candidates in their polling station during the parliamentary elections, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. ...
Iranian Jews check the list of their candidates in their polling station during the parliamentary elections, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. The balloting for the 290-member parliament is the first major voting since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. Under the Iranian constitution Jewish community has one representative in the parliament. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mideast Iran Elections
Iranian Jewish women fill in their ballots during the parliamentary elections, in their polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. The b...
Iranian Jewish women fill in their ballots during the parliamentary elections, in their polling station in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 2, 2012. The balloting for the 290-member parliament is the first major voting since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 and the mass protests and crackdowns that followed. Under the Iranian constitution Jewish community has one representative in the parliament. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Conservative rivals of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are leading in the race for parliament seats according to early election results.
The conservatives' lead was expected as the elections boiled down to a contest between conservatives supporting and opposing Ahmadinejad.
Early returns Saturday in the capital Tehran show loyalists to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have pulled ahead. Partial results from provincial towns also show conservative Ahmadinejad rivals were elected in many constituencies.
In a huge embarrassment, Parvin Ahmadinejad, a younger sister of the president, was defeated by a conservative rival in their hometown of Garmsar.
The results indicate Ahmadinejad may face a more hostile parliament in the nearly two years remaining of his second term in office.
