Al-Monitor- On Aug. 14, Iran�s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,�appointed Ayatollah�Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi�as the new chairman of the Expediency Council. Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani�had headed the council�for decades, until his death in January.

The Expediency Council was established in 1988 to resolve differences or conflicts between the parliament and the�Guardian Council, which is tasked with assessing and approving parliament bills based on their adherence to�Islamic law.

Prior to Khamenei�announcing�the�council's new leader, rumors had circulated about the possible appointment�of the conservative Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, who temporarily�chaired council�sessions after�Rafsanjani's death, of Ebrahim Raisi, the conservative cleric defeated in the May presidential elections�by the moderate incumbent�Hassan Rouhani.

The eventual appointee,�Hashemi�Shahroudi, headed the judiciary from 2001 to 2009�and is a member of�the�Assembly of Experts, which chooses and supervises the supreme�leader.�In the Iranian�political arena, Hashemi Shahroudi is considered�a moderate ayatollah and has views close�to those of�Rafsanjani, who also served as Iran's president for two terms (1989-1997) and led the moderate camp.

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