Former Guards air force commander elected as Iran's speaker

Iran's former Revolutionary Guards air force commander Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was elected by the country's lawmakers as speaker of the parliament for one year, according to Iran's state TV.

A total of 230 lawmakers, out of 264, voted for Qalibaf, whose record as a veteran of Iran's eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s and national police chief has endeared him to Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and boosted his chances of becoming speaker.

A former Tehran mayor, Qalibaf ran unsuccessfully in two presidential races and was forced to drop out of a third to avoid splitting the hardline vote. He revived his political ambitions by standing for parliament.

The parliament Qalibaf is about to head is currently dominated by hardliners, who as opposed to conservatives, advocate a more aggressive way to export Islamic revolution and less engagement with the West. President Hassan Rouhani, who delivered the nuclear deal to the country in 2015, is regarded as a conservative. But the Trump administration's exit from the deal stoked anti-U.S. sentiment in the country and strengthened the position of hardliners.

Qalib succeeded influential conservative Ali Larijani, who was appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as his adviser and member of the expediency council, a body intended to resolve differences between parliament and the Guardian Council in the legislative process.

The Guardian Council, a watchdog body, must approve all candidates for elections in Iran, including for parliament.

The council disqualified thousands of moderate and leading conservative candidates from taking part in Iran's February 21 parliamentary election, leaving voters to choose mainly between hardline and low-key conservative candidates loyal to Khamenei.

Iran's 290-seat parliament has no major influence on foreign affairs or Iran's nuclear policy, which are determined by Khamenei. But it might bolster hardliners in the 2021 election for president and toughen Tehran's foreign policy.

(Cover image: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a parliamentary session in Tehran, Iran, December 8, 2019. /Reuters)

(With input from agencies)