TEHRAN – Members of the Guardian Council on Wednesday re-elected Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati as the council’s secretary, Mehr reported.

Ayatollah Jannati has been the secretary of the Guardian Council since 1992. He was also elected as the chairman of Assembly of Experts in 2016, thus currently occupying two prominent posts in Iran’s political system.

During the annual elections within the Guardian Council, which took place on Wednesday, Abbasali Kadkhodaei was also re-elected as deputy secretary and spokesman.

The council’s elections take place every year on the anniversary of the establishment of the Council.

Under Article 99 of the Constitution, the responsibility to supervise elections lays with the Guardian Council.

The 12-strong body consists of six theologians appointed by the Supreme Leader and six jurists nominated by the Judiciary and approved by parliament.

On Monday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reinstated two theologians of the council for another six years and named a new one.

Also on Tuesday, Iranian lawmakers approved three jurists for the council, a week after Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi introduced five individuals to the parliament.

The new shakeup in the Guardian Council comes as Iran plans to hold parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections on February 21, 2020.

MH/PA