Clerics picked Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani today to lead a powerful Iranian government body in a boost for the former president who wants better ties with the West.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani's victory over a hardline rival to become speaker of the Assembly of Experts is a further step in his political recovery at the expense of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a vociferous critic of the West who beat the pragmatic cleric in the 2005 presidential race, analysts said.
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
But the change will not herald a shift in Iran's foreign or nuclear policy nor would it have a big impact on the assembly's tendency to stay clear of day-to-day politics, analysts added.
The assembly is an 86-seat body with the power to appoint, supervise and even dismiss the Islamic Republic's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But it has not exercised the power to dismiss the supreme leader and is not believed to have directly intervened in policy-making.
Before going into today's closed-door session of the assembly, Ayatollah Rafsanjani's said: "At the same time as defending our rightful positions, we should not provoke and we should not provide an excuse [to Iran's enemies]."
The clerics, many of them in their 60s or more, met to replace Speaker Ayatollah Ali Meshkini, who died in July.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani, president in the 1990s, has increasingly sided with pro-reform politicians opposed to Mr Ahmadinejad.
Opponents of Mr Ahmadinejad accuse the president of drawing the wrath of world powers and provoking UN sanctions in a standoff over Tehran's atomic plans.