Qalibaf Elected Iran’s New Parliament Speaker

Out of the 267 lawmakers present at an open session of the Parliament on Thursday, 230 voted for Qalibaf and 17 for Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, who headed the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran from 2011 to 2013, and 12 for Mostafa Mirsalim, a candidate in the 2017 presidential elections.

Amir-Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi and Ali Nikzad, both conservatives, were also elected as the first and second vice-speakers of the Parliament.

Qazizadeh secured 208 votes and Nikzad, a minister in former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad‘s cabinet, won 196 votes.

The new Parliament was inaugurated on Wednesday morning with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Judiciary Chief Hojatoleslam Seyed Ebrahim Raeisi, and Secretary of the Guardian Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati in attendance.

A message from Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei was read to the lawmakers by the Leader’s chief of staff.

There are 290 seats in the Iranian Parliament. The lawmakers are elected for a 4-year term, with no limitation for the incumbent or former parliamentarians to run again.

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