Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has appointed Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi as the new chairman of Iran’s arbitration body, the Expediency Council.  

Ayatollah Shahroudi replaces Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who passed away in January after a 27-year stint on the council, which mediates on legislative differences between the Parliament and the oversight Guardian Council.

Ayatollah Shahroudi will be taking over from Ayatollah Ali Movahhedi Kermani, who was appointed as the body’s acting chairman following Ayatollah Rafsanjani's passing. 

In his decree issued on Monday, the Leader praised Ayatollah Rafsanjani, who was also Iran’s president for two consecutive terms starting in 1989, describing him as one of the Islamic Republic's political pillars.”

Ayatollah Khamenei said changes are essential in the structure and content of the Expediency Council, calling for a revision of the body's general policies, and the way they are implemented.

The Leader further called for the establishment of a mechanism for evaluating the efficiency of the body and its policies, beside creating full coherence in the organizational and managerial structure, bringing about structural agility and removing parallel and redundant divisions of the council. 

This file photo shows the former Expedience Council headed by late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (rear 3rd R) in session.

Ayatollah Khamenei also reinstated Mohsen Rezaei (seen below) as the secretary of the Expediency Council.

Other members of the council include Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who heads Iran’s Assembly of Experts, Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, the former head of the Inspection Bureau at the Leader’s Office, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje’i, the deputy chief justice of Iran, and Seyyed Ebrahim Raeesi, the current custodian of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH) in the northeastern city of Mashhad.