Elections to the Majlis of Iran were held on 8 March 1996. A total of 270 representatives were to be chosen (22 in 1997). A second round was held on 19 April 1996, which filled 103 remaining seats where no candidate gained sufficient votes to win in the first round. 22 seats where reserved for the elections scheduled for February 1997.
While no political parties were in the running, the election offered an occasion for a large debate between a dozen Islamic factions, especially the conservative group led by Assembly Speaker Nategh-Nouri and the moderate wing headed by President of the Republic Ali Akbar Rafsanjani. In the first round the conservative Combatant Clergy Association gained a majority but in the second round their opponents the Servants of Iran's Construction made gaines and eventually no one had a majority. The first sitting of the newly elected Parliament took place on 1 June.
