TEHRAN — The next 4-year term of the Iranian parliament is set to kick off in a ceremony on Wednesday, according to Tasnim.

President Hassan Rouhani, Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi and Guardian Council Chief Ahmad Jannati are expected to attend the opening ceremony.

Spokesperson for the parliament’s presiding board said on Tuesday that the president is going to deliver a speech at the beginning of the Wednesday session.

Asadollah Abbasi said the oldest lawmakers will from a transitional presiding board at the opening session of the new parliament before a speech from the interior minister about the process of the parliamentary elections.

The transitional presiding board will then decide on a date to hold a session to endorse the credentials of the new MPs and elect an official presiding board, he added.

Abbasi also noted that unlike previous parliaments, the new lawmakers will not visit the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini due to the outbreak of coronavirus and the need to observe health regulations.

The parliamentary elections, the 11th of its kind since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, were held on February 21.

The Iranian parliament has 290 members who are elected by the people for four-year terms.  

Article 99 of the constitution states that the Guardian Council "is responsible for supervising the elections of the Experts Assembly, the President of the Republic, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and referrals to the public vote and referenda."

MH/PA