The elections, to fill the 290 seats in parliament, are being boycotted by Iran's main opposition and reformist groups, the leaders of which have been under house arrest for a year. It is the first nationwide poll since the disputed 2009 re-election of Ahmadinejad, which sparked widespread protests, by opposition groups crying fraud, and a bloody regime crackdown. International observers have not been allowed in to the country by authorities, who were determined to show a high turnout as a sign of popular backing for the regime. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said a big turnout would be a "blow to the mouth of the enemy" the United States and its Western allies.