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The 2024 Iranian Assembly of Experts election were held on 1 March 2024, concurrently with the elections of the Islamic Consultative Majlis. Directly elected by the public from a list of candidates vetted by the Guardian Council, the Assembly of Experts is made up of 88 clerics with the responsibility of supervising the Supreme Leader and selecting a new one.
A total of 510 candidates registered for the election and were vetted by the Council, bringing it down to only 138 by disqualifying moderates, and even several principlists, in favor of hardliners of the regime. [1] [2]
Former president Hassan Rouhani applied for re-election in his home province of Semnan, as did Rouhani's former Interior Minister, Mahmoud Alavi and Minister of Justice Mostafa Pourmohammadi. However, all three were barred by the Guardian Council from standing, without publishing a reason. [3] Rouhani described the decision as a "politically biased" ruling that "will undermine the nation's confidence in the system". [4]
Incumbent President Ebrahim Raisi, who was also a member of the current Assembly of Experts, was expected to run for re-election in Tehran. [5] [6] He instead chose to run in a rural constituency of South Khorasan province in which around 200 votes are usually required to win, and in which he is the only candidate for the seat, a situation prompting critics to point out he could be elected by his sole own vote. [2] [7]
Euronews wrote the only real winner of elections in Iran was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as competition is also centered around "ego, personality and resources." [8]
During the election, images surfaced of Afghan nationals getting Iranian birth certificates in order to vote. In response, the Ministry of Interior dismissed the allegations as rumors. [9]
Then-president Raisi comfortably renewed his place at the Assembly of Experts for a third time, securing more than 82% votes in South Khorasan, after one candidate changed his district to ceremonially run against Raisi. Ultraconservative Ahmad Khatami was re-elected in province of Kerman, and Mohammad Saeedi is Qom’s representative. Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the supreme leader's representative in Tabriz, recorded the highest number of votes ever for an assembly winner with over 834,000 votes. [10]
Ministry of Interior extended voting time three times until Friday midnight, sixteen hours after the start, [11] due to a "rush" of people at polling stations. But discussions centered around the low turnout in the aftermath of 2022 protests and as Iran's economy battled with high inflation. Preliminary results showed some 25 million people voted, which would put the turnout at around 40%. The state media hailed as a "huge defeat" for the anti-establishment's boycott. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps thanked Iranians for their "glorious" participation in the elections as a "decisive response to enemies". [10]
High-profile moderates and conservatives stayed away from the election and reformists called it neither free nor fair, as it was mainly a contest between hardliners and low-key conservatives loyal to Islamic revolutionary ideals. Mohammad Khatami, Iran's first reformist president, did not vote, while Narges Mohammadi, the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate for advocating women's rights, called the election a "sham". [12]
However, some comments considered a "notable shift" in the Assembly's composition, despite of the mass disqualification, towards younger clerics loyal to Khamenei. Pro-Rafsanjani clerics and reformists were sidelined, showing the determination to consolidate power and maintain control over the succession process. [13]
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Hassan Rouhani is an Iranian Islamist politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. He is also a sharia lawyer ("Wakil"), academic, former diplomat and Islamic cleric. He served as a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts from 1999 to 2024. He was a member of the Expediency Council from 1991 to 2013, and also was a member of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2021. Rouhani was deputy speaker of the fourth and fifth terms of the Parliament of Iran (Majlis) and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. In the latter capacity, he was the country's top negotiator with the EU three, UK, France, and Germany, on nuclear technology in Iran, and has also served as a Shia mujtahid, and economic trade negotiator.
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