Iran’s most powerful hard-line clerics to reunite in Assembly of Experts election
As Iranians decide who to support in the upcoming parliamentary election, another race will be held concurrently: the midterm election for the Assembly of Experts, which chooses and oversees the supreme leader.
Another race will be held concurrently with Iran’s parliamentary vote: The Assembly of Experts’ midterm election.
The Assembly of Experts is an 88-member clerical body in Iran tasked with choosing and monitoring the next supreme leader. Candidates must have a certificate of Sharia expertise or pass an exam from the Guardian Council on Islamic jurisprudence to run. Meanwhile, many believe that the hard-liner-dominated council rejected many of candidates for their affiliation with the Reformism current.
The assembly’s election is held every eight years, but a midterm is held every four years to replace those who have passed away or resigned. Most of the assembly's members are over 70.
Some consequential decisions of the clerical body have included electing Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri as the deputy of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1985 and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the new supreme leader in 1989.
