TEHRAN – According to Iran’s election office, potential candidates for the parliament can start their registration process on Monday. Enrollment will be underway for seven days and is done through the Interior Ministry’s website. 

To stand as a candidate in parliamentary election, the 12th of its kind since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, applicants must have the requirements below:

1- Minimum age of 30 and maximum 75 

2- A master's degree or above

3- Candidates should not hold permanent residency in another country

4- Candidates who have or used to have non-Iranian nationality are not eligible

5- Individuals who were not born with an Iranian citizenship are not eligible 

The legislative election will be held on Friday, March 1, 2024. Candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council before they can compete for the 290 seats that will be up for grabs. 5 of the parliamentary seats are reserved for religious minorities. 

Those elected will serve a four-year term. The country’s last legislative elections were held in 2020 where conservatives managed to secure a big majority with reformists gaining only 20 seats in parliament. Official tallies showed a turnout of 42.57%. 

The current parliament has largely been praised for its resilience against Western pressure and not caving in to Washington’s demands.  

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has lauded the legislative body for its prompt lawmaking on nuclear polices. The “strategic action plan to counter sanctions” adopted by parliament in December of 2020, has been described by the Leader as having “saved the country from bewilderment in the nuclear issue”.

In early June, the Leader warned that foreigners are trying to spread hopelessness among Iranian people so they would refrain from participating in the 2024 elections. He said only a few months before the vote, Western-funded media has launched a propaganda campaign against the upcoming election and are doing everything to fabricate the truth.

He urged people to take this year’s vote very seriously as it can prove to be a significant chapter in their upcoming future.  

Various officials have warned so far that the enemies will be plotting different schemes to discourage citizens from voting. For a while, Western-funded media touted that Iran is planning to change electoral laws to skew results. The claim that has now become defunct (as the current Iranian parliament only struck down a law that’s never been practiced) was part of the West’s extensive efforts to undermine synergy between the government and people. Nevertheless, the turnout in Iranian elections have always been higher than most Western countries.