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Iranians are voting in elections in an exercise widely expected to result in a more hardline parliament loyal to the country's supreme leader.

It is the first such poll since the US renewed sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme, battering its economy.

Thousands of moderate would-be candidates were barred from running for not meeting strict election criteria.

Observers say authorities will be hoping for a high voter turnout as a sign of support for the regime.

Critics of Iran's rulers have called on citizens to boycott the polls as a way of showing their opposition to what they say is widespread repression of human rights and intolerance of dissent.

The field of candidates running in the election is dominated by conservatives and hardliners, with the outcome likely to politically weaken President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate.

More than 7,000 candidates are vying for 290 seats in the parliament, known as the Majlis. It is part of Iran's mixed system of democratic and theocratic governance, under which the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say in the most important matters.

More than 16,000 contenders - including 90 mostly reformist members of the current Majlis - were disqualified from standing by the Guardian Council, a vetting committee loyal to Mr Khamenei.

On Thursday the US imposed sanctions on five members of Council for "preventing the Iranian people from freely choosing their leaders".

One of those blacklisted, Abasali Kadkhodai, responded mockingly. He said he felt "honoured to be sanctioned by America" - Iran's foremost foe - the Iranian national broadcaster Irib reported, according to Reuters.

The Islamic republic has been at loggerheads with the US and much of the West since a revolution in 1979 brought a radical Shia Muslim leadership to power.

Mr Khamenei said voting in the parliamentary elections was a "religious duty" which would show steadfastness in the face of US efforts to isolate and pressurise the country into changing.

Tensions between Iran and the US have soared since 2018 when President Donald Trump abandoned a multi-country agreement, which lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear programme.

Foreign powers suspect Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, although Iran insists its nuclear activities are for purely peaceful purposes.

Divisions over the elections have become increasingly crystallised on social media, with Iranians expressing pro- and anti-government positions.

It is unclear how many Iranians will heed calls to vote, with many disenchanted by the state of the economy, as well as the Iranian president's failure to deliver on promises of improving civil liberties.

Recent crackdowns on anti-government protesters have also deepened opposition to the ruling classes.

Supporters of Ayatollah Khamenei have been posting under the hashtags "strong majlis" and "I take part because", with one user tweeting "each vote is a bullet in the eye of the enemy".

Anti-establishment Iranians, meanwhile, have been commenting under hashtags "I do not vote" and "no vote".

"If our opinion was really important and it could change something, they would never ask for our opinion," one critic tweeted.

Iranians are voting in elections in an exercise widely expected to result in a more hardline parliament loyal to the country's supreme leader.

If someone gets tried, judged guilty and sentenced, while everyone expects a pardon, and then he’s pardoned- that is not justice being served. That’s kabuki.

Senator Tim Scott Predicts Massive Increase In Black Support For Trump

Senator Tim Scott is predicting a significant uptick in support from the black community for President Trump on Election Day.

Scott (R-SC) spoke with Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Thursday, suggesting Trump’s support from African-Americans was set to skyrocket, perhaps even doubling from when he won the White House in 2016.

“President Trump will see a 50 percent increase in his African-American support,” Scott envisioned. “It will go from 8 percent in 2016 to a minimum of 12 percent in 2020. He may even get to 15 percent of the African American vote, and that is game over.”

Trump only needs 13% of the Black vote to defeat the Democrats.

Today's Orwellian chart-topper

During this time, part of her work concerned the determination of the use of aluminum tubes purchased by Iraq. CIA analysts prior to the Iraq invasion were quoted by the White House as believing that Iraq was trying to acquire nuclear weapons and that these aluminum tubes could be used in a centrifuge for nuclear enrichment.David Corn and Michael Isikoff argued that the undercover work being done by Plame and her CIA colleagues in the Directorate of Central Intelligence Nonproliferation Center strongly contradicted such a claim.

Great, maybe red states will start allowing them to vote unchallenged and unencumbered.

If Harvey Weinstein is convicted "it is going to redefine the idea of consent in a very, very dangerous way where men have to read minds. As a criminal defense attorney, that is really scary to me"

You expect the ad break to feature Jeffrey Dahmer doing a positive review of the new Dewalt brushless power drills.

There is no voter suppression, only people not interested in voting.

The suppression is done in subtle ways by restricting early voting, challenging signatures, making people wait for hours in under-staffed polling sites.

I can say with some confidence