Elections against a backdrop of economic gloom and international isolation

Parliamentary elections on 2 March will be the first national poll since a 2009 presidential election, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed 62% of the vote, sparking accusations of rigging and months of protests. With reformists largely sidelined, the March poll is widely viewed as a contest between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad