Who will choose Iran's next supreme leader?
Hassan Rouhani and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani both addressed the Assembly of Experts' role in choosing the next leader as they registered to run.
The registration process for both the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections in Iran has begun, and high-profile candidates, accompanied by their entourage and the media, have been trickling into the Interior Ministry building. After registering on Dec. 21 to run for the Assembly of Experts, President Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Expediency Council, reminded voters of the body's function in electing the supreme leader.
Speaking to reporters after his registration, Rafsanjani said in these elections people will be “marking their fate for years to come.” The Assembly of Experts serve for eight years, and it is possible this body may be required to elect the next supreme leader of Iran. Rafsanjani praised the past performance of the Assembly of Experts, saying that in electing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 1989 they found “the most appropriate person after Imam Khomeini.”
