TEHRAN – Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has announced that he intends to run for a seat in the Assembly of Experts in the upcoming elections.

In an interview with Tolu-e Sobh weekly published on Tuesday, Rafsanjani described the upcoming Majlis (Parliament) and the Assembly of Experts polls as “very important and among our most significant elections.”

He added that “anyone who has an Islamic and national commitment should participate in the elections.”

Rafsanjani served two terms as Iran’s president from 1989 to 1997. He was also the Parliament speaker for nine years following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He presided over the Assembly of Experts since the beginning of the body’s fourth term in 2007 until 2011.

The next elections to pick representatives for the Majlis and the Assembly of Experts will take place simultaneously on February 26, 2016.

SP/OS