BAGHDAD, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi authorities on Wednesday said Iraq's international airports and border crossings would be closed from midnight Friday, ahead of the parliamentary election on Saturday.

The closure of the border crossings and airports will last from midnight Friday till midnight Saturday, the state-run Iraqiya TV channel quoted the authorities as reporting.

The move will be part of the security measures taken ahead of the voting of the parliamentary election due on Saturday, in which around 7,000 candidates will compete for the 329 parliamentary seats.

This will be the first general election since Iraq's historical victory over the militant group Islamic State (IS) in December last year.

To protect the polling centers, thousands of security members will be deployed to impose a three-layer security around the centers, in addition to using aerial surveillance and thorough security check for anyone entering the centers.

Iraq's previous general election was held on April 30, 2014, when the Iraqis elected 328 lawmakers for the parliament.