Iranians are voting in polls expected to consolidate conservative control of parliament after the mass disqualification of reformist candidates by a hardline vetting body.

Some 4,500 candidates are running for 290 seats in parliament in Friday's vote, in which an estimated 44 million Iranians of over 18 years of age are eligible to vote.

Polls opened at 8am (0430 GMT), with state radio pronouncing that, "today, the Iranian nation once again will show its political maturity".

Voting is to end at 6pm, although the hours will be extended if there is a large turnout.

Disqualifications

Ahead of the vote, the Guardian Council, an unelected body of clerics and jurists, disqualified around 1,700 candidates, mostly reformists.

Those barred from running were judged "insufficiently loyal to Islam or the revolution".

Many were also considered opponents to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has pledged his support for the conservatives.

In a speech on Wednesday, he called on voters to back candidates who are opposed to the US and "whose loyalties are to Islam and justice".

The reformists are represented by a coalition inspired by Mohammad Khatami, a former president, as well as the Etemad-e Melli (National Confidence) group, led by Mehdi Karroubi, a cleric considered a "centrist".

Reformists have admitted that the disqualifications during the vetting process mean that they can contest just half the available seats, leaving a clear run for conservatives to retain control of the 290 seat chamber.

Disappointment

The disqualifications of candidates have divided reform supporters.

Some have decided to boycott the vote.

Hadi Rezaei, a computer technician living in Tehran and a supporter of democratic reforms, sees little hope and no reason to vote.

He said: "We can't bring deep democratic changes within the ruling establishment through the ballot box."

"Once, I used to vote for reformers but it didn't work. The Guardian Council has already decided the elections."

But reform leaders are pressing their backers to go to the polls, hoping that with a large turnout they can at least build a strong minority in parliament, rather than the handful of seats they now have.

"It is not a fair or free election but I will still vote," Ahmad Moshkelati, who writes for Mardomsalari (Democracy), a pro-reform newspaper, said.

"Boycotting the vote only strengthens hard-liners and further weakens reformers, he said.

Initial results from Tehran are expected to come in by late Saturday or Sunday. Officials said that the final results would not be announced until five days after the voting.

'Litmus test'

Senior officials and state media have made every effort to encourage a massive turnout as a display of national unity.

State television has been repeatedly playing patriotic music and pictures of long queues of people voting in past elections, as well as running interviews with ordinary and famous Iranians emphasizing the importance of voting.

The elections are being considered as a 'litmus test' for Ahmadinejad, who has been accused of failing to control inflation and increasing tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions, ahead of presidential elections in 2009.

Inflation in Iran has increased by 20 per cent and almost one in 10 people remain unemployed.

Sanctions imposed by the United Nations over the country's nuclear program have weakened Iran's social structure and many are finding it hard to earn a living.

The Iranian parliament wields a good deal of power but its capacities are limited by the unelected Guardians Council, which must approve all of the parliament's legislation.

PHOTO CAPTION

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot in Iran's Parliamentary election in Tehran March 14, 2008.

Al-Jazeera