Polling stations across Iran opened on Friday, Mar. 1, the first time since mass protests swept the country in 2022, which were triggered by the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini while in custody.
"Voting for the 12th term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the 6th term of the Assembly of Leadership Experts began following an order by the interior ministry," state TV reported, using the official name of the Iranian parliament.
German public broadcaster DW reported that among the first to vote among the around 15,000 candidates for the 290-seat parliament was Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Pay attention to this, make friends happy and disappoint the evil-wishers," he said in his brief remarks by the ballot boxes.
Read Also: Hundreds of Activists Boycott Iranian Elections, Cite Rigging for Reason
However, due to the current regime cracking down on dissent, as well as a boycott campaign by opposition figures, voter turnout was expected to be low, with data from the state-owned polling center ISPA predicting a 23.5% turnout in the capital Tehran and 38.5% nationally based on a survey of 5,121 voting-age people.
The election was also unlikely to cause any major upsets, with the conservative hardliners holding a tight grip on the electoral process.
Related Article: Iran's Elections Expected to Have Low Voter Turnout as Calls for Boycott Left Unheeded
