TEHRAN - Iranians voted yesterday in parliamentary elections, the country's first major ballot since the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 led to months of antigovernment protests.

No disturbances are expected to follow the vote this time around. The key question yesterday was how many of the more than 48 million eligible voters would go to the polls to elect 290 new legislators.

Late in the day, state TV reported a preliminary turnout of 64.5 percent, and voting was extended by five hours. While it was difficult to verify turnout, with no independent monitors on the ground, several polling stations in Tehran were receiving a constant stream of voters.

Results are expected tomorrow for larger cities and Monday for rural areas.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was one of the first to cast his ballot yesterday. State television quoted him as saying that a high turnout would "safeguard'' Iran's reputation and security.

In recent weeks, Iranian officials have increasingly linked the vote to Western sanctions and Israeli threats of war over the country's controversial nuclear program. They initially warned that so-called Western enemies might plan fresh antigovernment protests. When no protests materialized, they withdrew those warnings and lauded the "effectiveness'' of the national security forces in stopping "Zionist paid spies'' at the borders.

A security official told the semiofficial Mehr News Agency that 10 people arrested in recent days had been sent by Iran's "enemies'' to commit acts of sabotage during the elections.

"Threats like planting bombs have been prevented, but there might be more arrests before the end of the elections,'' said Mohammad Taqi Baqeri, the head of the Tehran province electoral security committee.

Yesterday's vote could focus attention on Iran's domestic political rifts, which have turned these elections into a battle among conservatives who differ little ideologically but are split over whether to support Ahmadinejad.

One powerful group of hard-line clerics and Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders, united in a coalition called the Stability Front, is calling for more influence for those "elected by God.''

Members of the opposition reform movement were largely absent from the vote. Many high-ranking opposition politicians have been jailed or purged.

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