The supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, called this Friday to vote in the parliamentary elections to “disappoint the enemies”, in the first elections in the country since the protests unleashed by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.
“Many people around the world, whether normal people or politicians and authorities, have put their eyes on Iran, on you, to see what you do in these elections,” Khamenei said in a message addressed to Iranians after casting their vote for the a few minutes before the opening of the polling stations, in an event televised by Persian television.
(“Make our friends happy and disappoint our enemies. Please vote,” said the religious, who in recent days has appealed on several occasions to Iranians to vote given the popular indifference.)
(Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the media after casting his vote in Tehran.)
Some 60,000 polling stations opened their doors at 08:00 local time (4:30 GMT) and will remain open for 10 hours throughout the country, where more than 61 million people are called to the polls, reported the official IRNA agency.
Around 15,200 candidates – 1,713 of them women – are competing for the 290 seats in Parliament, while 144 clerics are running for the 88 seats in the Assembly of Experts, the body that elects the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic in the event of a vacancy.
This body is elected every eight years and the result of these elections could have great importance in the future of the Islamic Republic, given the high age of Khamenei, 84 years old.
BY: TTU
