In Iraq, a coalition of religious Shiite parties with close ties to Iran have won a majority of seats in Iraq’s new national assembly. Election results released Sunday gave the Shiite coalition backed by the Grand Ayatollah Sistani 48 percent of the vote. The Kurdish bloc came in second with 26 percent of the vote. Although the Shiites fell short of winning 50 percent, the party will end up with a majority due to technical rules about counting seats. The main Shiite and Kurdish parties are seen as Iran’s closest allies in Iraq and they now have control of over 70 percent of Iraq’s national assembly.