On Nov. 24, Ali Motahari, an outspoken member of the Iranian parliament and son of the noted Islamic scholar Ayatollah Morteza Motahari (1920-79), openly accused the Assembly of Experts of negligence. Motahari argued that the body, consisting of 86 elected Islamic scholars, is responsible for overseeing the actions of Iran’s supreme leader.
“We do not have individuals above criticism in the country,” he said. “The responsibility of the Assembly of Experts is to supervise the performance of the supreme leader and his subordinates, but we haven’t seen them approaching this subject.”