Iranians will vote for a new parliament on February 26, 2016, the country’s elections watchdog said on Wednesday, according to AFP.

The date was announced by a Guardians Council spokesman who was quoted by the ISNA news agency.

After the previous parliamentary elections in March 2012, reformists virtually disappeared from the assembly — which now has 209 members — following a boycott.

The boycott was in response to the repression of protests that erupted following the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in June 2009, when two major reformist parties were banned.

A video which emerged several months ago of a speech by an Iranian military commander appears to back claims that the 2009 elections were rigged against the reformists.

The reformists returned to politics after the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who is regarded as a “moderate”, in June 2013.

Despite being presented as a moderate, Iran’s policies of executions and censorship have continued even under Rouhani.

The country  regularly executes citizens who are convicted of murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking, adultery and espionage, and detains activists accused of providing material to “anti-government websites”.

Rouhani has been described as being just as bad as Ahmadinejad, if not worse.