Skip to main content

Did Rafsanjani lose today to win tomorrow?

Hashemi Rafsanjani lost in the Assembly of Experts election for the chairmanship, but was it a gambit to bring voters out next year?
Iran's former judiciary chief Mohammad Yazdi attends a session of the Assembly of Experts in the capital Tehran on March 10, 2015, before being appointed as the new head of the Assembly. The Assembly of Experts, the clerics who appoint and can dismiss the country's supreme leader, picked the ultraconservative Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi as their new chairman in a surprise appointment. AFP PHOTO / BEHROUZ MEHRI        (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

For months, many political watchers had been waiting for the day when a new chairman of Assembly of Experts was elected. The day arrived, and the outcome was deemed a surprise: Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi.

Before the election, speculation revolved around the nomination of Guardian Council head, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, and Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, spiritual leader of hard-liner Endurance Front, both of whom are prominent figures of the conservative camp. There was no serious news and even predictions about the candidacy and consequent victory of Yazdi, the chairman of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, all of whom are critics of President Hassan Rouhani’s administration.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.