Assembly of Experts important for Iran: Professor

Press TV has interviewed Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, about the inauguration of Iran’s fifth Assembly of Experts, where Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati was elected as the president.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Talk to us about the importance of the Assembly of Experts and where it ranks amongst the Islamic Republic’s political spectrum?

Izadi: Well, you mentioned one activity that the Assembly of Experts is in charge of, which is overlooking and basically examining the performance of the country’s leader. Another important job that they have is they can also dismiss the leader if they find that he doesn’t have the qualifications that is required by Iran’s Constitution.

The Leader of the Islamic Republic is basically elected by the people through this body. So, the people vote for these candidates and the candidates determined who’s going to be the leader. It is not very different from how the Electoral College votes in the United States, when they elect a president. In the United States, the president is not directly elected by the people. In Iran, the leader of the country is not directly elected by the people.

Unlike the United States, the leader doesn’t have a set term; so, and he [will be] dismissed at any time if these people decide that he doesn’t fit the job. The people that are in the Assembly of Experts are the most senior theologians that exist in Iran. They are both Shia and Sunni. We have representatives from Sunni-populated areas of Iran and when they elect, they’re representatives, they generally elect Sunni leaders.

So, it is a body that represents all the people in Iran and ... theologians they basically can determine whether the person that is going to be the leader of the country has the qualifications, because by Iran’s Constitution the leader has to also be a theologian. Iran is an Islamic Republic; so, overall I think the election of Ayatollah Jannati is significant because during the elections a few month ago we had different political parties, different personalities, giving lists and they were competing for seats.

The previous president of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah [Mohammad] Yazdi actually did not get enough votes in Tehran; so, that’s why we have a new president as the leader of the Assembly of Experts. And this shows that those who are in the Assembly of Experts also don’t have secured jobs. The people who are there generally are either teaching theology or are Friday prayer leaders or are basically conducting activities that are in line with propagation of Islam.

This is not a full-time job for them. They generally meet twice a year. They have committees within these sittings and one of the committees actually in charge of overseeing the leader’s activities. There are other committees that the members of the Assembly of Experts join and they basically fulfill the obligations that they are supposed to fulfill under Iran’s Constitution.

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