An electoral official said the Interior Ministry has approved the qualifications of nearly 95% of Tehran's nominees who registered for the upcoming parliamentary election due on Feb. 26.
Shahabeddin Chavoshi, the head of Tehran Election Headquarters, said in an interview with IRNA on Tuesday that of the 2,573 nominees who registered in Tehran province, 2,734 have been approved in the first phase of the vetting process.
He said the qualifications of 128 nominees have not been approved, while 33 withdrew from the competition.
Disqualified candidates can appeal the decision and seek further investigation from Jan. 6 to Jan. 9, while their objections will be processed from Jan. 10 to Jan. 16.
Then the Guardians Council, which is tasked with supervising the elections, will begin to vet the candidates, for the second and last time.
The final list of qualified candidates will be released on February 16 and they will be able to canvass for votes from February 18 to 25.
The registration of 12,123 candidates broke the participation record for parliamentary elections in Iran's history.
The number showed a more than a twofold increase, compared with the previous legislative polls in 2012 where only 5,395 had signed up.
There are currently 290 seats in the Iranian Parliament, 35 of which are earmarked for Tehran, elected by the direct vote of people in nationwide elections for four years.
