Hassan Ali Nouri said 440 men and 21 women signed up on Sunday, as the official registration of the potential candidates commenced across the country as well as in Iranian embassies and consular offices abroad a day earlier.

The registration for the ninth Majlis elections, scheduled to be held on March 2, 2012, began with an opening ceremony attended by Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar and several senior Iranian officials in the capital Tehran on Saturday.

Parliamentary hopefuls for next Majlis elections can sign up until December 30, 2011, as officials have announced that the deadline is not expected to be extended.

The Guardian Council, which is tasked with supervising the election, will then evaluate the competence of the registered.

The last parliamentary elections in Iran were held in 2008, in which the Principlist bloc won the majority of the seats in the 275-seat chamber.