Yazdi Defeats Rafsanjani - Elected Chairman of Assembly of Experts

Devastating Defeat for Moderates - Impressive Victory for Hardliners

Iran’s hardliners today scored an impressive victory in the Assembly of Experts (AOE) by electing Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi as its chairman. Yazdi handily defeated Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, the leader of the moderate faction, by a vote of 47 to 24, with two abstentions. AOE selects the country’s supreme leader.

Yazdi’s victory is a devastating defeat for the moderates, including Rafsanjani and the sitting president Hassan Rouhani and his team. It could also be an indication that the now-energized hardliners might try to block the expected nuclear agreement.

File photo: Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the new chairman of the Assembly of Experts. (Tehran Times)