TEHRAN – Candidates throughout Iran are enthusiastically vying for voter attention as citizens prepare to elect new members of Parliament and the Assembly of Experts this Friday.

Earlier figures have estimated turnout on March 1 to be at least 50% despite nonstop Western propaganda campaigns urging Iranians to refrain from showing up at the ballot box. 

15,200 candidates are vying for a four-year term in the 290-seat parliament. There will be a simultaneous election for the 88-seat Assembly of Experts, where 144 clerics will compete. The assembly holds the responsibility of overseeing Leader of the Islamic Revolution and determining a successor.