for the first time in seven years,

partly by capitalising on Donald Trump's hostility and maximum

pressure strategy.

The parliamentary elections weaken

president Hassan Rouhani, who is in his second and final term.

And it further crushes reformers' hopes

that the country could open up to the outside world.

It also sets the tone for presidential elections

next year, with analysts predicting

another hardline victory.

But a low turnout also reflects the disillusionment

many Iranians feel towards their leaders

across the political spectrum.

At this polling station in Tehran

people turned out in decent numbers.

But at others there was just a trickle.

I met one 25-year old who voted for Rouhani in 2017.

Back then, he hoped the nuclear deal

Iran signed with world powers would usher

in a new period of prosperity.

Now, he says he was brainwashed.

He didn't vote this time, saying all politicians are the same.

Such grim emotions are common in a country of 80m people facing

increasing economic hardship.

Trump's sanctions have strangled the government's ability

to export oil and pushed the country into a deep recession.

The Iranian regime must abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons,

stop spreading terror, death, and destruction,

and start working for the good of its own people.

Mr Rouhani said in December that Iran had lost more than $200bn

in revenue and investment as a result of Mr Trump's

maximum pressure strategy.

Prices soared as inflation rocket up to about 40 per cent.

And the Iranian rial lost more than half its value

over the past two years.

The government is struggling for foreign currency, cut off

from the global banking network.

But shops are still well stocked.

Years of isolation in four decades,

since the 1979 Islamic Revolution,

forced the republic to develop a diversified economy.

Iranian companies produce much of the country's food,

pharmaceuticals, steel, and cement needs.

And some factories manufacturing household appliances

and textiles are expanding.

This is all part of the government being forced to push

import substitution policies.

The car industry, which employs more than 500,000 people,

is a prime example.

After Peugeot and Renault pulled out of joint ventures

in the country because of US sanctions,

the government is desperate for local production

to fill the gap and for the sector

to remain an important part of the economy.

And here at the Iran Khodro facility

where the company is ramping up production.

In September, it was producing just 900 cars a day.

But now it's 2,000, and the company

plans to go to more than 2,500 or about 2,500 in a few months.

The reason for the increase is partly due to government

support, help from the Ministry of Defence,

which is helping produce some of the more technical components

you need to produce these cars, and also

because of the localisation of spare parts.

Before, the company was relying more on imports.

Now, it's relying more on local production

because of sanctions.

It's an example of how Iranian companies are trying

to get around the US regime of maximum pressure

to ensure they maintain output.

But this cannot mask the intense pressure on the economy.

Iran's oil exports are vital for foreign currency earnings.

Analysts estimate they've plummeted to a few 100,000

barrels a day because of US sanctions.

The IMF forecasts zero growth this year.

Most foreign companies have pulled out.

Virtually no western bank will do business

with an Iranian entity.

And that's despite the fact that most of the world,

including European and Asian governments,

oppose Mr Trump's decision to pull out of the nuclear deal

and impose sanctions.

Iranian businessmen are forced to import

goods using trans-shipment hubs in Iraq, Turkey, the United

Arab Emirates, and Afghanistan, as they struggle

to keep their companies going.

Iran's crisis began in May 2018, when Mr Trump unilaterally

withdrew the US from the nuclear deal, which Iran

had signed three years earlier.

Under the accord, Tehran had agreed

to limit its nuclear activity in return

for the lifting of many western sanctions.

Iranians were beginning to feel the benefits as the republic's

oil exports soared.

Western companies, including Peugeot and Renault,

returned, keen to tap into the country's

vast natural resources and large consumer

market with a youthful aspirant population.

But after pulling out of the nuclear deal,

Washington imposed wave after wave of sanctions,

and Iran responded by increasing its nuclear activity.

The US blamed Tehran for a September attack

that struck at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry.

As well as sabotage attacks on tankers

in the Gulf in May and June.

The US and Iran came to the brink of full-blown war

in January, after Mr Trump authorised the assassination

of General Kassim Soleimani, Iran's most

powerful and revered commander.

Iran retaliated by firing more than a dozen missiles

at Iraqi military bases hosting US troops.

Iranian officials appear resigned to the fact

that Mr Trump could now secure another four years at the White

House.

A few days ago we took bold and decisive action.

Brigardier-General Hossein Dehghan, a military adviser

to Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, Iran's supreme leader,

told me that Iran did not want war.

But he said Tehran continues to support its regional proxies,

and to develop its ballistic missile programme.

The result is that the economic pressures

on all ordinary Iranians is only likely to increase.

Tensions will remain high throughout the region,

the lingering fear that they could erupt.

Hardliners will be in the ascendancy at the centre

of the Islamic Republic's power structures.

Public disgruntlement has exploded onto the streets

in recent months.

In November, several hundred people

were killed as security forces put down

protests triggered by massive hikes to fuel prices.

Anti-regime protests erupted again in January,

after the government admitted mistakenly shooting down

a Ukrainian airliner killing all 176 people on board.

The January protests were notable

for the brazen verbal attacks against the elite Revolutionary

Guards and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Iran's leaders

is managing the country's depleted resources

while maintaining social stability.