The election campaign for Iran’s parliament has officially ended on Thursday, state media said.
The vote to pick 290 lawmakers is Iran’s first since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers in 2018, to re-impose sanctions that have hit the economy hard.
“The campaigning ended at 8:00 a.m. (0430 GMT) and any campaigning beyond this time is a violation of election regulations,” state television quoted election organizers as saying.
The election will have no major influence on foreign affairs or Iran’s nuclear policy, which is determined by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose hard-line loyalists are likely to dominate the parliament.
With Iran facing growing isolation and threats of conflict over its nuclear standoff with the United States amid rising discontent at home, the turnout is seen as a referendum on the establishment, a potential risk for the authorities.
On Tuesday, Khamenei said voting was “a religious duty” but some prominent pro-reform politicians in Iran and activists abroad have called for a boycott of the elections.
Iranian activists and opposition groups are distributing the Twitter hashtags #BoycottIranShamElections and #VOTENoVote widely on social media.
The public is also livid over the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January that killed all 176 people aboard, mainly Iranians. After days of denials, Tehran admitted the Guards were to blame.
