Ahmadinejad rival gains

The week's news at a glance.

Tehran

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani this week handily won the chairmanship of the body that chooses the nation’s supreme leader. Rafsanjani served as president from 1989 to 1997, and narrowly lost a runoff 18 months ago to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rafsanjani will lead the Assembly of Experts, an 86-member group that appoints and dismisses the most powerful official in the nation. Many of his allies also won spots in the assembly, and he is now seen as being closer to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei than is President Ahmadinejad, a hard-line conservative. In a further setback to Ahmadinejad, in local elections this week reformists and moderates won control of most major cities.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us