Iranian elections set to replace slain leaders

September 14, 1981

Iranians will hold an election Oct. 2 for a successor to President Muhammad Ali Rajai, who was killed in a bomb blast two weeks ago, Tehran Radio reported. The presidential ballot and polling for vacant seats in the Majlis (parliament) would be held on the same day, the radio said.

The Majlis by-elections are needed to fill vacancies caused by assassinations and by the killing of more than 70 leading Iranian figures in the July 28 bombing of the islamic Republican Party headquarters.