Record number of candidates begin election campaign in Iran

Candidates running for seats in Iran's legislature for a four-year term have launched their election campaigns, one week ahead of polls.

Voters are due to cast their ballots on March 1 to pick new members of Iran's Parliament, as well as the Assembly of Experts. The new parliament will convene in late May.

Some 15,200 candidates have been approved by jurists in charge of the vetting process to compete for the legislature's 290 seats, a record figure since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

According to Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, the ground has been prepared for a real competition among groups with different tastes and political inclinations.

He said candidates and their supporters should observe the legal frameworks of the elections, calling on them to conduct campaigning with full discipline and refrain from debasing other candidates.  

On Wednesday, the Guardian Council sent the names of the qualified candidates to the Interior Ministry, which holds the election.

The candidates include 1,713 women, which is more than double the 819 who competed in 2020. In the Tehran constituency, 3,545 candidates are competing for seats.

Current Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf will run for election from his hometown, a constituency in the remote northeast, after winning a seat in the capital Tehran four years ago.

In a simultaneous election, 144 clerics will compete for the 88-seat of Assembly of Experts that functions as an advisory body to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. Their term of service is eight years.

Under Iran’s Constitution, the Assembly monitors the country’s Leader and chooses his successor.

Incumbent Assembly member President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi will seek re-election to the Assembly in a constituency in South Khorasan Province.

ME