Iran parliament re-elects conservative as speaker

AP: Iran’s newly-elected parliament has voted to reinstate a conservative critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as temporary speaker.

The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s newly-elected parliament has voted to reinstate a conservative critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as temporary speaker.

In the Monday vote, 173 legislators supported incumbent Ali Larijani, defeating Gholam Ali Hadad Adel who gained 100 votes.

Both candidates are close to Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but Haddad Adel supports a less confrontative approach to Ahmadinejad’s administration. Conservatives who once backed the president turned against him after he was perceived to challenge Khamenei’s authority last year.

Traditionally, the temporary speaker has gone on to become the permanent one.

Conservative opponents of Ahmadinejad won a majority of the seats in parliament in elections ending earlier this month.