Iran’s legislative elections to come on February 26, 2016

The spokesman for Iran’s Guardian Council has announced the official date for the next legislative elections in the country.

Nejatollah Ebrahimian said Wednesday that nationwide elections to elect representatives for the Iranian parliament (the Islamic Consultative Assembly) will take place on February 26, 2016.

Iran’s Interior Ministry, which is charged with organizing the vote, had demanded the Guardian Council to pick a choice between February 26 and March 4 next year, Ebrahimian said.

The election for choosing members of the Assembly of Experts, an overarching body which supervises Iran’s leadership, will come on the same day. This will be the first time the two major bodies are elected simultaneously.

After the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran has organized more than 30 votes at the national level. People are expected to cast their ballots in the next elections to pick representatives of their constituencies for a four-year term in parliament.

The new 290-seat legislature is scheduled to convene in the second half of 2016.

Members of the Assembly of Experts are elected every eight years.