TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has officially announced that he will run for a seat at the Assembly of Experts.

The Assembly of Experts elections will be held in early March at the same time as the parliamentary elections. 

Raisi’s candidacy was announced by Hojatul Eslam Babaei, who appeared at the elections office of the Interior Ministry on Saturday on behalf of Raisi. 

Raisi is currently a member of the Assembly of Experts representing South Khorasan Province. He is running for the next Assembly of Experts from the same constituency. 

According to the latest statistics announced by Mohsen Eslami, the spokesperson of the country's election headquarters, so far 287 applicants have announced their bids for this round of the Assembly of Experts elections.

61% of the candidates have a history of announcing bids in previous elections and 39% have registered for the first time in the elections of the Assembly of Experts.

Members of the Assembly of Experts are elected for an 8-year tenure and must be highly qualified in terms of knowledge of religion. The oversight body is comprised of 88 members, all are mujtahids. Candidates should pass an exam before qualifying for the elections.