Iran to the polls

tehran - In Iran Friday parliamentary elections. The predominantly Shiite country of about eighty million people are going for the first time since last vote without being internationally isolated and suffering under sanctions.

With the relatively moderate cleric Hassan Rohani in presidential elections in 2013, the government has embarked on a reformist path. However, the establishment of ultraconservative clerics is unaffected.

Reformists hope these elections there will change. This is not easy. The vote is democratic in principle, but the candidates must first through the balloting by a board of ultraconservative clerics. The more than 6,000 candidates who participate Friday, would constitute half of the total number that had been notified. Nearly six hundred candidates are women.

The spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is above the president and has the last word. On his doings will be monitored by the Assembly of Experts. This council of 88 experts believe is chosen Friday. It is possible that these experts choose the successor to the now 76-year-old Khamenei when it dies.