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Powerful Iranian Council Selects Hard-Liner as Chairman Powerful Council in Iran Selects Hard-Liner as Chairman
(about 7 hours later)
TEHRAN — An Iranian council that would have the authority to select a new supreme leader elected an 89-year-old hard-liner as its chairman on Tuesday, Iranian state news media reported.TEHRAN — An Iranian council that would have the authority to select a new supreme leader elected an 89-year-old hard-liner as its chairman on Tuesday, Iranian state news media reported.
The council, the Assembly of Experts, holds an increasingly important role in light of concerns about the health of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who received treatment for prostate cancer in 2014.The council, the Assembly of Experts, holds an increasingly important role in light of concerns about the health of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who received treatment for prostate cancer in 2014.
“We should act in such a way that both God and the leader are satisfied with us,” the new chairman, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, told the semiofficial Fars News Agency after his election.“We should act in such a way that both God and the leader are satisfied with us,” the new chairman, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, told the semiofficial Fars News Agency after his election.
The selection of Ayatollah Jannati, who won a majority of the 86 votes, suggested that seniority was a higher priority than the preference of voters. During parliamentary elections in February, Ayatollah Jannati managed to secure the last of 16 seats in the Tehran constituency, barely making the threshold. The selection of Ayatollah Jannati, who won a majority of the 86 votes, suggested that seniority was a higher priority than the preference of voters. During parliamentary elections in February, Ayatollah Jannati managed to secure the last of 16 seats in the Tehran constituency.
It also signals new obstacles for a coalition of reformists and moderates who are seeking very modest changes in the Islamic republic, analysts say. It also signals new obstacles for a coalition of reformists and moderates under President Hassan Rouhani who are seeking very modest changes in the Islamic republic, analysts say.
In addition to his new post, Ayatollah Jannati heads the influential Guardian Council, a vetting body that disqualified over 3,000 reformist candidates for the parliamentary elections in February, which were held parallel to the vote for the Assembly of Experts in February. In addition to his new post, Ayatollah Jannati leads the influential Guardian Council, a vetting body that disqualified over 3,000 reformist and moderate candidates for the February elections, which were held in parallel with the vote for the Assembly of Experts.
If Mr. Rouhani was upset at the vote on Tuesday, however, he did not let on. He called the assembly an example of “religious democracy,” and reaffirmed that, when the time comes, the “people have chosen” those who will make the decision on a new supreme leader.
Some in the moderate camp even said that they had supported Ayatollah Jannati’s candidacy, though more for tactical than emotional reasons. “We need to reassure them after their electoral losses,” in the parliamentary voting, said Farshad Ghorbanpour, a political analyst close to the Rouhani government. “We are trying to reduce their concerns and keep them on board.”
Not all reformists shared that view, however, and they questioned what the moderates had gained through such concessions. “Maybe our coalition with the moderates has been a mistake,” one prominent reformist, Ibrahim Asgharzadeh, wrote on Twitter.
Hard-liners struck a different chord, drawing on the oft-repeated propaganda message that the February elections had been “influenced” by Britain, Iran’s former imperial overseer and historic enemy. One newly elected member of the Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Ali Eslami, said the new chairman had been elected to “give a powerful slap to the British government,” the Fars News Agency reported.
“Indeed, the respected members of the Assembly of Experts intended to give a crushing response to the evil Britain,” Ayatollah Eslami said.
Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, who is supposed to be subject to the oversight of the assembly, congratulated the new members and reminded them of their responsibilities.
“In one sentence, the responsibility is this: accurately and fully guarding the Islamic and revolutionary identity in the country, and guiding the interlinked organizations of this system toward grand and high objectives,” he said on his website, Khamenei.ir.