Tasnim � Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi hit back at US officials over their remarks against the country�s upcoming elections and said they had better clarify ambiguities about elections in the US.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mousavi rejected �irrelevant� remarks made by some US officials about the upcoming elections in Iran, saying that the significance the Islamic Republic attaches to the issue of elections is at a high level compared with other countries, especially those of the region.

The Iranian people have become accustomed to the contradictory remarks by a notorious group of US authorities, he added.

�Instead of questioning the voting in Iran, the US officials had better answer questions of a wide range of people and elites in the United States and the world over the ambiguous and complex mechanisms of presidential elections in their own country in which the majority�s vote is ignored,� the spokesman said.

�The US regime should also explain its extensive ties with countries that are alien to even the simplest forms of elections,� Mousavi went on to say.

The remarks came after US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook on Friday cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Iranian parliamentary elections set to be held later this week.

The election campaigns officially began in Iran at 00:00 Thursday, and will last until the end of Wednesday, February 19.

The nationwide votes for the parliament and the midterm election of the Assembly of Experts will be held simultaneously on Friday, February 21.

The campaigns for the Assembly of Experts midterm election had already begun on February 6.

A total of 7,148 candidates, including dozens of Iranians from the religious minorities, are running for the parliament. There are 290 seats in the parliament up for grabs.

In capital Tehran, 1,453 candidates are contesting one of the 30 allocated seats on the legislature.

The lawmakers are elected for a 4-year term, with no limitation for the incumbent or former parliamentarians to run again.