With Iran’s elections set for Friday (March 1), many observers and analysts focus more on the voter turnout and not on the people running for office.
Some of the factors as to why Iranians are hesitating to vote include widespread discontent over the country’s worsening economy, years of mass protests rocking the country, tensions with the West over the Tehran regime’s nuclear program, and its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Officials have urged people to cast their votes, but no information has been released this year from the state-owned polling center ISPA about expected turnout, which has been a constant feature even in previous elections.
CNN reported that there were around 15,000 candidates competing for the 290-seat parliamentary election and 144 for the 88-seat Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint the country’s Supreme Leader.
The current one, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is over 84, which means the incoming Assembly would select his successor if he died during the …