[18][19] Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged for a strong turnout, saying that "it is important to show the world that the nation is mobilised," and that "the enemies of Iran want to see if the people are present."

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Hossein Salami also urged people to participate, saying that "every vote is like a missile that is fired into the heart of our strongest enemies".

However, Azar Mansouri, the head of the Reform Front coalition of parties that boycotted the elections, called for authorities to heed the voice of the silent majority and urged changes to the governance method.

[4] About 275 prominent activists and civil society representatives called for a boycott of the election, citing the "disgraceful" state of the electoral system and the "complete elimination of opponents.

[16] The Reform Front also described the vote as "meaningless, non-competitive and ineffective", while former President Mohammad Khatami said that Iran was "very far from free and competitive elections".

[22] Former president Hassan Rouhani, who was disqualified from running in the Assembly of Experts after being a member for 24 years, urged for a "protest vote" but did not explicitly call for a boycott.

[24] During the first round, polls opened at 08:00 local time in 59,000 precincts across the country and were initially set to run for ten hours before being extended until midnight.

The Interior Ministry deployed 250,000 security personnel to ensure the conduct of the elections amid tighter scrutiny in the aftermath of the 2024 Kerman bombings.