it's the election season in iran, with the candidate list finalize and preparations underway, the country has already geared up for its highly anticipated parliamentary elections. the helpfuls are spending their hectic days. each of one trying to grab one of the 280 seats in the islamic consultative assembly, the official name for iran's parliament. on the first day of march, the iranian nation will go to the polls to elect their mps for the next four years, but who is elegible to cast his or her vote, and what do they expect from the representatives? on the other hand, what does candidate have to undergo before making his or her way into the parliament and as an

mp, what can they do for the electorate? can the new members bring a new lease of life to the country's legislative body? and what challenges awaits them in baharistan building? where they are supposed to pass, amend and change laws and at the same time oversee the government's performance. these and more on this episode of iran today. since the victory of the islamic revolution in 1979, 11 rounds... of parliamentary elections have been held in the country, the 12th round is scheduled to be held on this friday, the new elected members will convene in late may.

of by law, election day is a holiday in iran. polling stations are open for at least 10 hours with the interior ministry able to extend the voting time if necessary, which is often done. in iran, voters do not need to register before elections. citizens aged 18 or above an election day can vote any polling station across the country. mohsen islam.

round, i mean, 16,34 people registered, in the 10th round, 12,72 people registered, and in the ninth round, 5,385 people registered, as you see, there has been a huge increase in the number of people who want to stand for parliament, this year, the registration process was done online, so it was done smoothly, this round, the number of young people who registered for the... under the sea was also considerably high, nearly 70% of them were aged between 30 and 50. in this regard we have had a 55% increase in comparison to the last round. the 290 seed islamic consultative assembly consists of 285 directly elected members and five seats reserved for zorastrians, jews, assyrian and caldanian christians, and armenians, one for

armenians in the north of iran and one for armenians in the south. the common in eligibility criteria for candidates included the minimum age of 30 and maximum age of 75 years, master's degree or its equivalent, iranian citizenship and no dual nationality. government ministers, members of the guardian council and high judicial council are banned from running for office, as is the head of administrative court of.

at the same time, the guardian council's representatives are present at the polling stations, likewise the candidates representatives are all present at the polling stations at the... the appointed inspectors, so you see the voting process is being observed, monitored, supervised and inspected by different people. in a simultaneous election, 144 clerics will compete for the all cleric 88 seat assembly of experts that functions as an advisory body to the leader of the islamic revolution, the term of service is eight years. under iran's constitution, the assembly also monitors the leader. and chooses his successor. according to ministry of interior, nearly 59 polling stations will be installed, staffed with around 800 thousand personnel to ensure smooth elections. based on article 74 of the

constitution, the executive bodies are obliged to provide the candidates with facilities and capacities for campaign purposes. this year, the candidates across the country are provided with nearly. 200 local tv channels for the candidates, moreover, local messenger services like it, surush plus, i gap and rubica have given personal space to the candidates. add to that, local radio channels and other public

platforms. meanwile, transparency in election campaigns has been addressed as matter of high priority in this round کلیه ن we have designed for this round of the parliamentary elections, they should enter all the data concerning their election funding sources and expenditures. for example, if the candidates receive financial aid for a person, a party and so on, they have to be entered on this side, likewise the expenditures, like the money. and for setting up their headquarters, holding rallies, pr and the like all have to be entered a site. this all has to be done for the sake of transparency. it's interesting to know that each constituency has a certain spending cap. the sky is not

the limit and the candidates cannot spend as much as they like or can. this is the first time we have set a spending cap for the candidates. the spending cap. is determined by criteria such as the constituency's total population, allocated seats in the parliament, etc. if candidate does not respect the spending cap, they are punished by being bought from standing for parliament for two rounds. the winners of the parliamentary elections constitute iran's legislative body, which has enormous power, it delineates the course the country should take, hence it can shape. the future of the country. the islamic consultative assembly can establish laws on all matters within the limits of its competence, as laid down in the constitution. government bills are presented to the islamic consultative assembly after receiving the approval of the council of

ministers. the islamic consultative assembly has the right to investigate and examine all the affairs of the country. international treaties, protocols. contracts and agreements must be approved by the islamic consultative assembly. taking and giving loans or grants aid domestic and foreign by the government must all be approved by the assembly. of khurasan daily, newspaper affiliated to the principalists told us about the challenges the next parliament would have to tackle. شیرین اقتصاد که حتماً هست. major challenges the next parliament will have to deal with, we have serious problems in this regard and the parliament can help them be resolved. issues such as income tax, car imports and like are still unresolved and the 12th parliament will have to reach a conclusion on such issues, at the same time it should help

control inflation. another challenge has to do with foreign policies. we're still faced with sanctions and we have to get rid of them if we want to improve the economic. situation, in this regard, the parliament can help the government and our diplomats by giving them free rain in their negotiations, so they can proceed in accordance with our national interest. mr. muhammady. meanwhile said that the challenges wouldn't be all economic. another challenge has to do with our society and culture. over the past few years, we have had lot of discussions over hijab. the next parliament has to deal with it. the hijab bill has not been passed yet. issues such as marriage, population growth and the like are also among the other issues the next parliament will have to address. in case of war or emergency conditions aiken to war, the... government has the right to impose temporarily restrictions only with the agreement of the islamic consultative

assembly. in no case can such restrictions last for more than 30 days. if the need for them persists beyond this limit, the government must obtain new authorization from the assembly. by the same token, all changes in the boundaries of the country are forbidden, except minor amendments in keeping with the interests of the country on condition that they are not unilateral. do not encroach on the independence and territorial integrity of the country and receive the approval of 4-5th of the total members of the assembly. in mr. muhammad's opinion, if the majority of people go to the polls, the country is very likely to have a parliament of greater efficiency. few things have undermined the status of the parliament over the past years, one is that the np's level of competency has decreased. in recent years, this subsequently has adversely affected their performance in law making and

supervision. this is undermine the credibility of parliament as decision-making organ. meanwhile, people are not sure how successful the next mps will be in fulfilling their promises. having said that, the parliament can be the most effective body in the country if it is filled with the most efficient candidates who reflect society as a whole. this part. look, the public's demands have changed, the world has become a more complicated place

given the fact that the nation's demands have both increased and changed, i hope the next mps will take these new demands into consideration, establish meaningful connections with different groups in society, in particular the youth and university students and move in the same direction the public wants. there's plenty more to be said, but first a quick media review to give other outlets a chance to get award in. hello everyone, welcome to the news section of the program. we will go over some news pieces. on february 17th, iranian interior minister ahmad vahidi announced that 103 parties and 20 electoral coalitions declared their readiness for the fourth coming late winter election. minister vahidi further revealed that several other coalition. are also gearing up for participation. according to shora gc, vahidi commended the qualification

of an impressive 1500 candidates or the parliamentary election. he highlighted the diverse backgrounds of the candidates, noting that among them are 1100 professors, 250 doctors, 1700 teachers, 400 judges and 1700 women, showcasing the breathth of expert. peace and representation within the pool of qualified candidates. as iran braces for election, politicians says future is in the hands of people. in an interview with farse news on sunday, ali akbar salihi stressed the importance of active participation in the impending parliamentary elections, stating that it is not merely a recommendation, but rational decision. tehran times writes, underscoring the crucial role of unity in determining the country. his fate, he urged citizens to join hands and actively take part in the electoral process. emphasizing the

power of collective action, salehi, who was foreign minister from 2011 to 2013, noted that standing together mitigates potential differences, including political disagreements. raisi, active participation in elections creates a strong iran. as sharisat writes, iranian president ibrahim raisy urged iranian citizens on friday to make a correct and informed choice to create a strong parliament. raisi spoke through a video conference on friday during the opening of 200 nationwide radio and television election campaign channels. election, main pillar of islamic establishment, leader. the leader of the islamic revolution, ayatollah sayid ali khamenei says that the elections are the main pillar of the islamic establishment. shard delhi writes, referring to the upcoming parliamentary elections and the assembly of experts elections, which are scheduled to be held on march the 1st, the leader stated that

everyone should participate in the elections, stressing that elections are the main pillar the islamic establishment. "the elections are the way to reform the country," he added. he further stressed that political differences should not affect the national unity of the iranians against the enemies. the leader of the islamic revolution stated that the arrogant block is undoubtedly against iran's elections, adding that the elections are the symbol of the islamic establishment's republicanism. and that brings us to the end of this new section. let's go back to the main narrative. traditionally, the competition in parliamentary elections has been between two major political groups, the reformis and the principalists, but this time around is the competition still between these two? would you please break down the candidates in terms of their political affiliations? concerning the political

affiliations of the candidates i have to say that in the application forms that we have to fill in, we don't ask about their political affiliations, but according to the information provided by the provincial headquarters, 4,703 people stand as independent candidates, 2,725 people as principalis and 1,560 people as reforms. we have no information about the rest. it could be said, that the three major groups have a strong presence in the elections. the principal is sometimes referred to as conservatives have several electoral lists in the capital city of tehran which has a share of 30 seats in the parliament. currently they make up the majority of the assembly and apparently have no difficulty in keeping their law-making seats. on paper, the

principal is traditional rivals, however, don't seem to stand a big chance to dominate the assembly. do the vetting process in no rush. it seems that it cannot do this job in a short period of time. that said, the guardian council is the legal part of the political system, and by in large, it cannot be said that the council has conflicts of interests in approving or disqualifying the candidates. it acts in accordance with the law, but again, i

think it cannot do the vetting job within a very limited period of time, and therefore it had better to act based. on the presumption of innocence, while some of the reformers have boycotted the elections, the majority of their fellows have encourage people to go to the polls. in the run up to the election, 110 reform activists published a statement calling for participation in the elections to open a window in the assembly which is now dominated by the principalists. a statement like the one known as the window opening statement. shows that the majority of the reformists will take part in the elections, that happens despite the fact that number of reformist candidates did not receive final approval from the guardian council to stand for parliament. a considerable number of candidates however have no apparent affiliations to these two major political groups, something almost new in the history

of iran's parliamentary elections since 1979. this year the guardian council set a new record in its vating process by approving the majority of candidates seeking to run in the parliamentary elections. the number is almost twice the number of the last elections, more than 15,200 candidates for 290 seats. this is a big number. around 75% of those who registered to stand as candidates got final approval from the guardian council. a great number of these. candidates are independent and have no political affiliations with the two major political groups, the reformers and the principales. the last election was held in 20. 20 against the backdrop of anti-west sentiment following the us assassination of lieutenant general qasim sulaymani. this time the iranian people will go to poles while

many of them feel the sting of economic pressures caused mainly by us sanctions. the country's economy is in the doll drums a mid us-l sanctions which intensified after washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 from the iran nuclear deal. also known as the jcpoa. inflation is officially about 40%. discontent over wages and working conditions is rife and the currency which had stabilized in 2022 has lost about 10% in value in the past month. now all eyes are on the new mps. can they find a way out of this situation? what can or should they do in this regard? mr. ali pathzad, an iranian economic expert. believes that the country has enough laws and rules to improve its economy and the parliament should revise its priority list.

if you ask me about the next parliament's responsibility in the realm of economy, i think its most important job is supervision and amendment of laws. mean, the next parliament should shift this focus from passing new laws to revising the existing laws and instead give its priority to supervision to see. for example, which laws have been implemented or not? another point that the new parliament should pay attention to is the issue of contradictor rules and laws. if the new parliament really wants to address economic issues and problems, it should take what i said into serious considerations. the country's enemies have pinned their hopes on the current economic situation, wishing it would discourage people from taking part in the elections, but the fact is that over the past four decades, despite all ups and downs, iran has had one the highest turnout in the region if not across the world. while many countries in this corner of the world are still unfamiliar

with the ballot box, the iranian people have long exercised their will through the most democratic method. it behooves people to take part in the elections, both in terms of religion and national interests. i've been to number of small and big cities across the country. people are talking about the upcoming elections with enthusiasm, but some people are dancing to the tune of the enemies calling for a boycott of the elections, though in vain. i have no doubt that people will go to the polls just like they did in the past. currently the region is in golfed in various crises, at the same time our enemies have launched hybrid warfare against us, orchestrating unrest in the country as they did last year. so i think that the... and people will go to the poles to show their unity against the enemies and they don't recognize those who have boycotted at the elections as their true representatives. even

under the worst of circumstances such as the iraki imposed war which took eight years, the iranian people never stopped going to the polls. this year emits the hybrid warfare launched against the country, they will cast their votes, a manifestation of true democracy and a precious time for the nation. that might linger on for decades, i would like to tell the new mps to avoid passing new laws and instead trying to find what they want in the existing laws, then organize them

and resolve the existing contradictions and give priority to the implementation and supervision of those laws. that's all for today, thank you for watching from the whole team. please do join us again same times next week to see what else is on. you can also follow us on telegram and x, till next time, take care. it seems the israeli occupation will conclude the grand operation in the city of khan unis in southern gaza within days, withdrawing thereafter to the newly established security zone along the border with gaza, just as it did weeks ago in the city of gaza and surroundings to the north. does this mean that the next step is to begin the ground operation in rafah? it appears that the decision regarding the operation is still pending, not only for field related

reasons, but lot of regional play. prefer the negotiating path to end designist aggression against gaza, hence all eyes are now a possible improved prisoner exchange deal both in form and content compared to the first paris formula reached between qatar, egypt, the united states and the zinist israeli entity last january. gaza talks underway this week on the mediast stream. a damming report indicates that deaths from terrorism in africa have skyrocketed more than 10000 percent during the so-called us war on terror. the study by the africa center for strategic studies revealed that during 2002 and 2003 when the us was just beginning its decades long war. total of just nine terrorist attacks were counted throughout all of africa leading to only 23 casualties, but after two decades of us intervention in

africa with the purported aim of help the continent in counter terrorism, deaths from takfiri, violence in africa increased to 23,322 last year, reaching a record level of lethal violence, so what exactly are us troops doing in africa if they're not fighting terrorists as they claim? crisis devastating wars, terrorism, the israely lobby, crackdown, diplomacy. gaza, humanitarian apocalypse.

the headlines this hour, the hamas chief says the us and the israeli regime will not gain through politics what they have failed to achieve through war. the us is really genocidal war and gaza continues for the 145th day with the death pill nearing 30,000. also the headlines iran's leader emphasizes the importance of strong voter turn out in the elections for the sake of effective governance.