The competition has been organized by the Holy Quran Center of the Astan (custodianship) of Imam Ali (AS) in Najaf.
Ammar Talib Mousawi, a member of the organizing committee, said more than 100 Qaris have submitted their recitations to the committee, Quran.ImamAli.net website reported.
He added that the panel of judges assessed the submitted recitations and selected 45 of the contenders to compete in the second round.
He said a number of prominent Iraqi Quran experts, including Fazel Aram, Siraj al-Ibadi, Sayyed Adil al-Yasiri, and Haidar Kadhimi are members of the panel.
The second round will be held from the 17th to 23rd days of the holy month of Ramadan in the form of a phone-in contest, he noted.
Five top participants will make it to the final round, slated for the 28th day of Ramadan, Mousawi stated.
The competitions of the second and final rounds wil be broadcast live on the satellite TV channel of the Astan, according to Mousawi.