Iran’s former President, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has said that the country’s Assembly of Experts is considering potential candidates for the position of supreme leader. Official circles in Tehran have been keen not to stir a public debate about who could succeed the incumbent, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has undergone surgery for prostate cancer, in order to avoid undermining the most powerful figure in Iran.
Rafsanjani; who is a strong ally of President Hassan Rouhani, said that the assembly will appoint a new leader “when needed,” ILNA news agency reported on Sunday. “The Assembly has appointed a committee to prepare a list of candidates and will vote when something happens,” he added.
The assembly consists of 82 members who are tasked with selecting the supreme leader and supervising him in his role. Khamenei has been in the post since 1989.