![]() Voter turnout, the lowest for parliamentary elections in the history of the Islamic Republic at 42.6 percent, was likely depressed by factors including the mass disqualifications and the announcement of the first COVID-19 cases just two days before the balloting. Ahead of the vote, the Guardian Council disqualified more than 9,000 of the 16,000 people who had registered to run, including large numbers of reformist and moderate candidates. Elections for the body were held in 2020, with most seats going to hard-liners and conservatives loyal to the supreme leader. ![]() Members of the 290-seat parliament are elected to four-year terms. Voter turnout, at just 48.8 percent, was the lowest for a presidential election in the Islamic Republic’s history. The election was also affected by official pressure on the media, with journalists told to refrain from issuing reports that were critical of the balloting or Raisi. Three approved candidates dropped out several days before the poll. Among those rejected were outgoing first vice president Eshaq Jahangiri, a reformist, and former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative. The Guardian Council had rejected most of the nearly 600 aspiring candidates-including 40 women-in May 2021, approving only seven applicants. Ebrahim Raisi, then head of the judiciary, won the presidency in June 2021 with 62 percent of the vote in a heavily manipulated contest. He is elected by popular vote for up to two consecutive four-year terms. The president, the second-highest-ranking official in the Islamic Republic, appoints a cabinet that must be confirmed by the parliament. The current supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, succeeded Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. However, in practice his decisions appear to go unchallenged by the assembly, whose proceedings are kept confidential. The supreme leader is appointed by the Assembly of Experts, which monitors his work. He also appoints six members of the Guardian Council the other six are jurists nominated by the head of the judiciary and confirmed by the parliament, all for six-year terms. He is the commander in chief of the armed forces and appoints the head of the judiciary, the heads of state broadcast media, and the Expediency Council-a body tasked with mediating disputes between the Guardian Council and the parliament. ![]() ![]() The supreme leader, who has no fixed term, is the highest authority in the country. After the outbreak of protests later that month, the authorities severely disrupted internet service and blocked access to the social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp.
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