on friday, march 1st, millions of iranian people went to the polls to select 290 lawmakers from among over 15,000 candidates. the poll was twined with vote for 88 members of the assembly of experts, body task was choosing and supervising. the leader of the islamic revolution. the polls closed at midnight on friday 6 hours later than planned due to second surge of people who decided to cast their votes in the evening. at the same time, more than 350 foreign reporters from over 20 countries were present in iran to cover the news of the country's national elections. the twin elections were held smoothly on one single day with the least possible problems. despite all the efforts put in to show. the democratic event as a

thorny problem for the iranian political system. the parliament is iran's national legislator and its members are responsible for drafting legislation, approving the annual budget or any international treaties and agreements among other things. the new elected members will convene in late may as law makers are expected to direct the country toward better future by laws they pass, amend and change. this is mr. hamid reza taraqi, former iranian np.

and makes sure that the laws are being if the parliament does its supervisory role implemented, many of the current problems will vanish, because the solutions have already been developed and adopted as laws. the important thing is to enforce them. if the next parliament focuses more on upholding the existing laws, the majority of the current. problems will be solved indexes are indicating an improving situation, the world bank's figures and statistics also confirm this claim, i think that many of the current problems will be solved in the next two years. initial results are indicative of rather new configuration in the islamic consultative assembly or iran's parliament. with votes tallied manually, iran's ballot takes time to count, as of producing this

episode, official preliminary results from tehran indicated that mahmoud nabawyan and hamid rasai, two principal is had topped the list of 30 representatives, followed by 35 year old state television host turned first time law maker amir hoseyn sabeti. speaker mohammed baqir khalibaf finished fourth and only a handful of his sponsored candidates ascended. longtime law maker mujta zoor grabbed seat in the holy shiah city of kom.

"the principalist assembled various lists of candidates and on the other hand, the reforms didn't have serious participation in the elections. based on the initial results, the majority of successful candidates are, let's say ultra revolutionary, critical of the current parliament and its speaker dr. gholibov. regardless of the results, it was a politician and we all have to respect the results. as for the assembly of experts, president. ibrahim raisi renewed his place for a third time, securing more than 82% of in the vote in the south jorasan province located in eastern iran. on the other hand, sadiq amoli larijani, current head of the top arbitration body, known as the expediency council, was perhaps the most notable figure who failed to grab seat in the assembly. the official turnout in the iranian parliamentary and the assembly of ex first elections is yet

to be announced, but preliminary results at the time of recording this episode of iran today suggest that more than 40% of voters went to the polls on march 1st, "the enemies of the islamic revolution spent millions of dollars in order to discourage people from going to the poles, but their plot backfired and the voter turnout was over 40%, and that was not something the enemies hope to happen. the elections were held

across 59,00 voting stations across iran with 6,800 in the province of tehran, which included the capital and several surrounding cities. until this election, birth certificates had been required as voter identification. this time voters could use their national id numbers or other id documents instead. in fact, according to semi-official reports, 86% of voters in friday's elections cast their ballots using their national id cards, 11% with birth certificates, 3% with driver's licenses and less than 1% with passports and military service completion.

nearly 50%. although in tehran, it was less than other big cities, the ministry of interior is to announce the exact number. anyway, the political plot hashed by the enemies of the country to undermine the credibility of the elections was foiled in this sense, the turnout was success. comparatively speaking, voter turnout in 2020 was 42.6%, while in 2016 it reached 60. 1.6% and in 2012 it was 63.9%. it means that this time around the turnout rate is almost the same as the last elections. that's while this year saw the biggest election boycott campaign in the last 45 years orchestrated

from abroad. to have better understanding of the voter turnout, we talked to mr. nasir imanian political analist. "the fact is that the voter turn out this year is almost the same as the last round of elections four years ago, so it is not correct in my opinion to link this level of turnout to the developments that have unfolded in the country over the past two to three years. is this voter turn out desirable? well, in other countries, this level is something acceptable if not desirable, but for the islamic republic of iran, no, it is not desirable." should not content ourselves with this turnout rate and need to increase it for the next elections. sheikh talal abdurrahman

shirim, a former prisoner in israeli regime prisons. "dealing with the situation in palestine and talking to someone who understands and knows the zionist regime very well. freedom is priceless and must. the palestinian detainee suffers two pains. the first pain when his house is rated by the occupations army. the second suffering that the prisoner will endure begins when he is placed in the army troops vehicle." "we hope that the blood that was shed in gaza was not in vain and that they will achieve the freedom and preserve the dignity. there's

plenty more to be said, but first a quick media review to give other outlets a chance to get a word in. hello everyone, welcome to the new section of the program. go over some news headlines. president h's election turn out as blow to opponents of iran. iran's president ibrahim raisi has appreciated the iranian people for their massive turnout in the friday election. to choose members of parliament as well as the assembly of experts, saying that the turnout was a blow to opponents of the country. in our right, raisi said in his message that the ill wishers of the country did all they could to discourage people from voting, but the people's participation filled with faith and hope was a big no to the inhumane front of arrogance and foiled their insincere plan. iranians rip off electoral boycott calls. before the voting day had even arrived in iran, western media. lets became a watch with reports and analyses predicting that iranians would not turn up at the polling stations

this year. terran times rights, headlines such as iran braces for low election turnouts, iranians expected to shun elections and low turnout and boycott expected were how the stenographers of politicians in the west decided to speak of iran's march 1st elections. however, none of these renowned media outlets managed to come up with substantial data or... holding information to support their claims. iran parliamentary elections likely to go to runoff, with 4,000 out of 500 ballot boxes in tehran counted, some of the candidates seemed to have to compete in a runoff as there were no clear winners among them, officials say. according from governor of tehran province aliza fakhari, iran front page writes, this law says any candidate who wins at least 20% of the valid votes can enter parliament in the first round. but if they fail to garner at least 20% of the ballots, they will probably go to second round. over 25000 forces ensure

security of elections, official says. iranian interior ministry's deputy for security affairs majid ahmadi said on friday over 25000 forces have been tased with ensuring the security of elections and guarding the polling sites. shark daily writes mir ahmadi said on friday morning that long cues of voters have been form at many polling stations across the country, describing it as major epic. he noted that full security prevails at all polling stations, thanks to the efforts by the security and intelligence organizations. venezuela congratulates iran on elections, commands his people's will. venezuela's foreign minister has congratulated iran and its people on their elections and their dedications to combatting foreign plots. almayadin writes, venezuela has congratulated iran. in celebration of its elections, praising the exercise as a show of democracy. in a post on x, the venezuelan

ministry of foreign affairs said, the president nicolas maduro and the government of venezuela congratulate the people and the government of the sister islamic republic of iran, for the celebration of the democratic exercise carried out in the 12th elections, for the consultative assembly or majlis and the sixth elections for the assembly of experts this march 1st, 2024 in the... iranian territory. thank you for joining us in this section. let's go back to the main narrative. the elections were big slap to those who tried to keep the polling booths empty of voters, that is the soren enemies of the iranian nation. on contrary, people came out in large numbers to exercise their voting rights, thorting the plots hatched by troublemongers and nasayers. they left no stone unturned since 2021. to create hopelessness among iranians, but the fact that the turnout matched that of the 2020

parliamentary elections shows that enemy plots failed. there say that the pressure from outside to discourage people was unprecedented this time, and there say that the sanctions and economic pressure were also meant to make people discontent before the elections. same time, western media outlets cast doubt on the elections, they tried to say that the elections were meaningless with no impact on the future of the people. that said, i have to admit that economic problems acted negatively. some people might have lost their faith in the efficiency and efficacy of the parliament as body capable of resolving the economic problems. western media showed open hosility in these elections. not towards the candidates and their policies and not towards the absence of certain candidates,

but towards the very elections. even before the votes were cast, they issued premature verdicts with some even predicting less than 10% turnout, and some suggesting that the iranian system was rotting. in other words, they weren't seeking to engage in journalism, but were striving to graft a script for iran's elections and then cover it through their distorting lenses. g by calling on people to boycott elections, but people instead said a big no to them, each ballot was in fact a bullet shot at this boycott scheme. as for the opposition groups outside the country, they use anything to get funds. by ignoring many facts, they want to offer picture of the country which, although has nothing to do with reality, can appease

the paymasters. while there are still some countries in the region who have no idea about. the us and its minions are trying to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the islamic republic by baking the question, by linking the turnout rate to whatever they wish. even before the polls opened, they turned the elections a sham, urging people not to vote. at the same time, some western media outlets try to manipulate their audiences by showing few half empty polling stations out of 60 th00 of them across the country. linking turn out with legitimacy of the entire political system is not only absurd but hypocritical. low or lukewm turnout has been a common phenomenon in other countries, including in the west. over the last two years, such trends have been widely reported in the german, french and british media, especially in the context of elections of secondary importance. but unlike the iranian case, the

legitimacy of the german, french and british governments has never been called into question. given the relatively low turnout, do you think that the ruling system is faced with legitimation crisis? look, we shouldn't immediately connect whatever happens in society to the legitimation crisis. for months nationwide protests were held across france, but no one interpreted it as the legitimation crisis of the french political system. there is no logical relationship between these two. you might infer from low turn out that there is, for example, some sort of discountant in society at the performance of for example the government, but it's just jumping to conclusion if we connect any political or social development to the legitimation crisis. voter turnout is not a fixed stable phenomenon, it fluctuates from time to time and it's not going to be

the ultimate criterion for the legitimacy of a ruling system as no single factor. determines voter turnout, rather a complex mix of individual, social and political factors have influence on it. for example, older, more educated and higher income earning people are generally more likely to vote than younger, less educated people and people with lower incomes. after nearly 40 elections, people may not take elections as serious as before, some might feel that it's okay if they... not go to the polls because there are many other people go or because they think there are many other elections in the future that they can take part in. moreover, unlike some other countries in the world, going to the poles is not obligatory in our country. in other countries with higher voter turn out, strict rules, regulations and fines may act as a carrot for

the people to vote, but we do not agree with this method, we believe that people. under no circumstances, this is true about the elections held 10, 20 or 30 years ago, was there any legitimation crisis 30 years ago? i don't think so. linking voter turn out to the legitimacy of a political system is not just jumping into conclusion, but altering the reality for mischifous purposes.

look as for the self-proclaimed champions of democracy such as the... us, the uk, france and the like, if you take a look at their voter turnout, it's usually below 50%, and that's despite all the strict rules, regulations, finds and sometimes punishments, so by their standards we are still in a satisfactory state, although we were better in the early years after the revolution. as a republic, we like to have higher voter turnout, because we believe it would be to the benefit of the country, because for... example, it will help us to have the upper hand in the international arena, yet we firmly believe that this political participation should be voluntary, unlike some other countries such as turkey, france. and the united states. since the victory of the islamic revolution of iran in 1979, 12 parliamentary elections have been held in the

country. the ruling system has always encouraged the public to go to the polls to use their rights to vote and their rights to self-determination, and as long as they do so, the real winners will be the iranian people. مردم دنبال این هستن که. people want their votes to be seen, they don't just want to go to the polls for its own sake, but they vote so as to be heard, they want their opinions and concerns to be taken into serious considerations, whether through the ballot boxes or other ways, they want their representatives to be accessible and responsible and at the same time adherent to their election promises. while hostile media outlets zeroed in on the turnout rate, which is comparatively on par with the... rest of the world, this round of elections was outstanding in some other regards. for example, this time voters identification processes was done electronically, and

therefore the voters didn't have to form endless cues. this year, the candidates across the country were provided with nearly 200 tv channels and equal opportunity for the candidates. this was specially suitable for lesser known candidates and those who did not have enough budget for campaigning expenses. also printing posters, in addition to the unnecessary costts caused a lot of wastage every year, this year, however, it was all avoided with free online and on air platforms. this time, the islamic republic of iran broadcasting, the irib, provided the candidates across the country with nearly 200 channels, this caused the face of the city to remain almost unchanged. in the run up to the elections, you could rarely see posters, banners and flyers advertising the candidates. we had to explain this point to foreign reporters who had come to iran

expecting something else. i would like to add that these tv channels and social media platforms were very influential in shaping public opinion. but that's not all. this year also transparency and election campaigns reached a new high. have we had anything new in this round of parliament. need of reconsideration, i think the time for the election campaign needs to be extended, many candidates need more than two weeks to introduce themselves to their electorate. this limited time acts to the benefit of more famous candidates. on the other hand, the law transparency enforced this year was about the candidates campaign budget was a good point for this round. "the vetting process, i think still needs improvement, although, in my opinion, the garden council's contact was much better this year in comparison to the past. moreover, the elections were held in

complete security, ensuring security for 59,00 voting stations is easier set than done, especially in the middle east, a region threatened by terrorist groups and their western paymasters. could you tell us about some of the positive aspects of this round of election?" " the security of the elections, the elections were held the best while the enemies were luring to undermine possible way, despite its extreme difficulty, likewise the authorities did their best to have fair elections, there was a head to head competition among all political groups to... enter the decision making system, mean the parliament, generally speaking, i can say that we had clean elections, free of fraud, ballot rigging and smear campaigns. political

groups were all allowed to fill their candidates, different lists of candidates support this claim. the results of this year's elections were also of great significance. it was a reminder that no one should take victory for granted, no matter how big. famous or influential they might be, a fair and free election, the result is no way a foregone conclusion. that's all for today, thank you for watching from the whole team, please do join us against same times to see what else is on. you can also follow us on telegram and x. till next time, take care. last year iran's president ibrahim raissi visited three african countries, kenya, uganda and zimbabwe. president raissi witness the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements in economic, scientific and

educational sectors among others and in this regard iran has granted full scholarships to ugadan students to study in iranian universities. this is for palestine. in this week's show we'll be asking why the archbishop of counterby seems to be in thraw to zionist extremists. the church of england used to be referred to as the british conservative party at prayer. but justin welby's leadership of the church has gone even further. he's positioned it as an adjunct to the genocidal zionist regime. at christian zionism as a movement preceded jewish zionism about at least 50 years. millions and millions of pounds over the last 10 or so years have gone to zionist organizations under the guise of doing counter extremism work.

this week on expos a, although aaron bischnell explicitly stated that his actions were a protest against designist entities genocide of palestinians, western media misreports his motivation as a protest against the israeli hamas war. a debunked article claiming that hamas sexually assaulted palestinian women during the al-aqsa flood operation. causes controversy for the new york times and pro-palestinian activists praise bushnell as a hero who succeeded in bringing attention to the calamity and genocide suffered by the palestinian people. right here on expos a, the truth is just a revelation away.

the headlines, more palestinians die of hunger and dehydration is israel regime's genocidal war on the gaza strip enters its 153rd day. south africa is the world court to take a national emergency measures against israel to prevent imminent famine and starvation in gaza. also in our headline islamic resistance in iraq says it is targeted to kiryat shamone airport in the occupied territories in support of the people of gaza.