Tehran, Iran – Iran on Monday announced a turnout of 41 percent in last week’s elections for parliament and a key clerical body — a record low since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to voting records.
Conservatives were reported to have secured the bulk of seats in Friday’s elections for the national legislature and Assembly of Experts, the body which selects Iran’s supreme leader.
“Around 25 million people participated, with a turnout of 41 percent,” Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told a press conference in Tehran.
The vote was the first since nationwide protests broke out following the September 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Amini, an Iranian Kurd, had been arrested for allegedly flouting the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
The elections, in which a vetting process barred many hopefuls including moderates and reformists from running, took place as Iran suffers a severe economic crisis deepened by international sanctions.
Vahidi said the vote took place “despite the ill-wishers of the nation, including intelligence services and terrorist groups, trying very hard to undermine security”.
Of the 290 seats in parliament, 45 will go to a second round of voting to be held in either April or May, including 14 of 30 seats in the capital Tehran, according to the spokesman for Iran’s elections authority Mohsen Eslami.
He also said all the new members had been chosen for the 88-seat Assembly of Experts.
Iran’s 2020 parliament was elected during the Covid pandemic with a turnout of 42.57 percent — at the time the lowest since 1979.
In the 2016 parliamentary elections, turnout was above 61 percent in the first round.