Election Profile:

Flag of Iran Source for election date

At stake in this election:

  • The office of Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini- KHAMENEI *
  • Head of Government: President Mahmoud AHMADINEJAD **
  • Assembly: Iran has a unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami) with 290 seats.

* The Leader of the Islamic Revolution is appointed for life by the Assembly of Experts.

** The electoral system is two-round.

Description of electoral system:

  • The Leader of the Islamic Revolution is appointed N/A.
  • President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 4-year term.
  • In the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami), 285 members are elected by direct vote to serve 4-year terms and 5 members are ex officio .***

*** There are 196 single- and multi-member constituencies. The threshold in a single-member district is one-third of votes. The threshold in a multi-member district is one-third of overall voters. The electoral system is two-round.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

  • Mahmoud AHMADINEJAD
    Alliance: Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran
  • Mir-Hossein MOUSAVI
    Independent(s): Independent
  • Mohsen REZAI
    Independent(s): Independent
  • Mehdi KARROUBI
    Party: National Trust Party (NTP)

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 66,429,284 (July 2009 est)
  • Registered Voters: N/A (June 2009 )

Last Updated on 02/04/2010