Top Iranian pro-reform politician Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in a message two days after elections in which reformists made strong gains, said on Twitter on Sunday that no one could resist the will of the people.

"No one is able to resist against the will of the majority of the people and whoever the people don't want has to step aside," the message said. Former president Rafsanjani, an ally of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, is leading the race for membership of the influential Assembly of Experts, a body that chooses Iran's most powerful figure, the supreme leader.