TEHRAN — Spokesman of the Interior Ministry election headquarters has announced new details about the candidates running for parliament.

Ismail Mousavi said of the 16,044 who had registered to run for parliament, the competence of 7,157 were confirmed, according to Mehr.

He said 782 of the candidates are female and 6,375 are male.

Regarding the average education level of the candidates, Mousavi said 422 have seminary degrees, 1,021 Ph.D., 5,308 masters, 404 bachelor degrees, and two have associate degrees.

Referring to the average age of candidates, he said those within the age range of 30-40 have the highest share of candidacy with 2,523. 

2,390, 1,827, and 417 candidates fall within the age ranges of 41-50, 51-60, and over 60, respectively, he said.

The parliamentary elections, the 11th of its kind since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, will be held in over 200 constituencies across the country’s 31 provinces on Feb. 21.

According to the latest estimates, 57,918,159 individuals are eligible to vote in the Friday election.

The election campaigns officially began in Iran at 00:00 Thursday (20:30 GMT, Wednesday), and will last until the end of Feb. 19.

There are 290 seats in the parliament up for grabs.

Earlier this month, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, “Those who love dear Iran and its credit and intend to solve the problems should take part in the upcoming elections.”

He added that the people must come to the scene on the elections day to manifest the country’s national might and firm will.

President Hassan Rouhani has said, “No one is above the law and the people. We should not imagine that we are leading the people’s thoughts. We should not imagine that if we were not, the people would be misled.”

“The people understand well and choose well too,” he added.

MH/PA