Candidates competing in the elections for the 12th term of the Iranian parliament (Majlis) have launched their campaign that will continue until the end of this month.
Candidates are allowed to go ahead with advertisements and campaign processes beginning from the early morning of Thursday following the publication of the full list of contenders and providing each of them with election code to be used it in the campaigns.
After 3 months of checking qualifications by the supervisory boards and vetting by the Guardian Council, more than 15, 200 candidates were finally selected to compete in the parliamentary elections.
The eligibility criteria for candidates included the minimum age of 30 and maximum age of 75 years, a master’s degree or its equivalent, Iranian citizenship, and no dual nationality.
Ahmad Vahidi, the Interior Minister described this year’s election a real competition between various political groups and factions.
In Tehran, Ray, Shemiranat, Islamshahr and Pardis constituencies, 3,545 candidates are competing for new parliament.
Mohsen Eslami, the spokesman for Iran’s election headquarters said that based Article 74 of the constitution, the executive bodies are obliged to provide the candidates with facilities and capacitoes including conference halls for campaign purposes.
Iranians aged 18 or above will cast their ballots for new parliament on March 1, 2024.
290 seats are up for grabs while five seats in the Iranian parliament are reserved for religious minorities.
The last election was held in 2020 in the backdrop of the anti-West sentiment following the US assassination of anti-terror icon and top military commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.
