Rafsanjani to head Iran’s powerful assembly

Clerics picked Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday to lead a powerful Iranian government body, in a boost for the former president who wants better ties with the West and a blow to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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 Ahmadinejad, a vociferous critic of the West who beat the pragmatic, mid-ranking cleric in the 2005 presidential race, analysts said.

But the change will not herald a shift in Iran’s foreign or nuclear policy, 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.