TEHRAN – Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani has decided to run for the chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts, an advisor to ayatollah announced.

Hojatoleslam Mostafa Mirlohi told the Mehr News Agency on Monday that Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani has decided to accept requests by 60 members of the Assembly of Experts to announce his candidacy for the chairmanship of the assembly.
He also confirmed the news that Assembly of Experts Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has called on Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani to run for the chairmanship, saying it was a “verbal message.”
The Assembly of Experts is constitutionally tasked to appoint and supervise Leader.
The assembly’s representatives are elected to eight-year terms in a general election. The current Assembly of Experts is the fourth since the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
The 86-member assembly elects its chairman every two years. The internal election is usually held in March.
In March 2009, Rafsanjani was reelected as the Assembly of Experts chairman.
Analysts have speculated that Rafsanjani, assembly deputy chairman Mohammad Yazdi, Guardian Council chief Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi would also declare their candidacy for the election.