TEHRAN: Iran’s municipal elections, scheduled to take place later this year, have been postponed to 2013 and will now be held at the same time as the presidential poll to save costs, a newspaper said on Tuesday.
The government-run Iran newspaper said Iran’s parliament had passed a law to this effect which had been ratified by the Guardians Council, the electoral watchdog.
Parliament had also approved the holding of elections for members of the Assembly of Experts — the body which supervises the work of the supreme leader — at the same time as the 2012 parliamentary elections, the report said.
It added that the Guardians Council had yet to ratify this.
Iran newspaper said the decision to hold the various elections simultaneously was an attempt to cut back on costs.
Iran’s last presidential election, held in June 2009, saw hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected, but opposition leaders said the vote was rigged and called mass protests which triggered one of the worst crises in the Islamic republic’s history.
