Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, with the support of 51 votes out of 88, beat two other contenders for the role.
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“This is an assembly for the hard time of the nation, and it reassures the Iranians”, said President Hassan Rouhani after leaving the official inaugurating session of the new round of the Assembly.
Despite the advances for reformists in February’s election, the assembly remains controlled by conservatives. Media reports suggested he could muster no more than 20 of the assembly’s votes.
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati (R), a candidate for the upcoming vote on the Assembly of Experts, and Iran’s former chief negotiator Saeed Jalili attend a conservatives election campaign gathering in Tehran February 24, 2016. They are expected to choose the successor to Supreme Leader Khamenei, who is 76 years old and thought to be in poor health.
Jannati is also secretary of Iran’s powerful constitutional watchdog, which is in charge of vetting candidates for the Assembly of Experts, as well as those running in parliamentary and presidential elections. Iran’s president, by comparison, holds little power.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution highlighted the Iranian people’s hospitality vis-à-vis Afghan people during years of war and after that, saying: “Unlike certain countries, such as the USA and United Kingdom, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always treated the Afghan people with respect, brotherhood and hospitality and will withhold no technical, engineering and infrastructural assistance for Afghanistan to exploit its natural resources”. The appointment of Jannati as the head of the Assembly of Experts clearly shows that the notion of reform within the clerical regime is a total myth. It also manifests the regime’s deadlock and the fact that it is devoid of any future.
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No moderates or reformists stood for the post.
