The Constitutional Council on Sunday held a written exam for hopefuls seeking to run for the upcoming Assembly of Experts by-elections in which six seats are up for grabs.

Iranians will go to the polls on June 18 in the country’s 13th presidential election. Candidates hoping to run in the next elections are to apply in early April for approval. The final list is to be announced by the Constitutional Council in early June.

Constitutional Council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei said there are no worries about reviewing and amending the Constitution when circumstances require.

Under Article 26 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the formation of “parties, societies, political or professional associations, as well as religious societies, whether Islamic or pertaining to one of the recognized religious minorities, is permitted provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic Republic.”

The Constitutional Council is comprised of twelve members: Six Faqihs and six jurists. The Faqihs (Islamic jurists) are appointed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, and the jurists are nominated by the head of the Judiciary and elected by Parliament.

Constitutional Council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei said the Iranian Expediency Council’s faults with a bill to amend the country’s presidential election law are still in place.

Members of the Constitutional Council's board of jurists and Islamic jurists attended the watchdog body’s regular weekly meeting in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on April 7.

The Constitutional Council is one of the most important and powerful bodies within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s fabric of governance. It is comprised of twelve members: Six Faqihs and six jurists. The Faqihs (Islamic jurists) are appointed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, and the jurists are nominated by the head of the Judiciary Branch and elected by Parliament. According to Article 91 of the Constitution, the members are elected to serve for a period of six years.

The Constitutional Council in a statement on Thursday congratulated the Iranian nation on the occasion of the Islamic Republic Day, the day when, 42 years ago, an Islamic republic was officially declared in the country based on the results of a referendum in which Iranians overwhelmingly voted for the establishment of that political system.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which is a civil rights organization in the United States, said from 1980 to 2015, the nation's prison population climbed from roughly 500,000 to over 2.2 million, with black Americans making up 34 percent of all inmates.