Ayatollah Rafsanjani declined to stand for the position heading the Assembly of Experts, and as a result traditional conservative Ayatollah Kani will now lead the Assembly, receiving 63 of 86 votes. Rafsanjani, who has served in many capacities including President from 1989-1997, had recently been supportive of the Green Movement in the aftermath of the 2009 election debacle. While this appears to be a victory for the conservative forces associated with Ahmadinejad and Khamenei, the results from this development are far from clear and possibilities still remain. In any case, news like this about one of the most central figures in the history of the Islamic Republic will reverberate and speculation will run rampant.
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