Iranians Vote for Parliament as Khamenei Urges High Turnout

Iranians voted today in the country’s first election since the disputed presidential contest of 2009 sparked mass protests, as sanctions targeting the country’s nuclear program squeeze the economy.

Voting to elect 290 members to the parliament, known as the Majlis, ends at 6 p.m. local time with about 48 million Iranians eligible to cast ballots. More than 3,400 candidates have been cleared to compete by the Guardian Council, a body of jurists and clerics. One-third of would-be candidates were barred, including about 30 members of the current assembly.