On 1 March 2024, Iran held elections for its parliament and Assembly of Experts.
The Assembly of Experts (Majlis-e Khobregan) is the only body with the power to appoint, supervise and dismiss the Supreme Leader (Iran’s head of state). It has 88 members and is elected every eight years. The parliament (Majles-e Shoraye Eslami) is a single-chamber legislature. It has 290 members and is elected every for four years.
Under Iran’s constitution, religious clerics and appointed bodies vet candidates before an election.
Reflecting the ruling Iranian government’s interpretation of the principle of ‘Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist’, the Supreme Leader and members of the Assembly of Experts must be clerics and scholars of Shia Islam.
Candidates for election to both the parliament and the Assembly of Experts must be approved by the 12-member Guardian Council. The Guardian Council consists of six experts in Islamic law, appointed by the Supreme Leader, and six experts in civil law, approved by the parliament. The council must also approve the parliament’s legislation before it can become law.
Candidates primarily stand as part of groups and factions, rather than political parties. There are two main groups: reformists, and conservative and principlists.
The current Supreme Leader is Ali Khamenei and the President is Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran has a population of 89.2 million and approximately 61.2 million registered voters. Voter turnout in the 2024 elections was 40.6%.