With voter apathy at 77%, what will Iran's elections bring next week?

Candidates competing in Iran’s 2024 parliamentary elections launched their campaigns on Thursday, one week before voting begins in a key electoral process that comes amid domestic and regional turbulence.

A total of 15,200 candidates are competing for four-year terms in the 290-seat chamber, which has been dominated by hard-liners for two decades. Conservatives occupy 232 seats in the current parliament.

The last parliamentary elections were held in 2020.

Under Iran’s constitution, the Interior Ministry and the Guardian Council — a 12-member clerical body that has broad powers and half of whose members are directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — have the final say in the selection of candidates and can bar anyone from running.