Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center, is surrounded by a group of lawmakers after being elected as speaker of parliament, in Tehran, Iran on Thursday, May 28, 2020. ( VAHID SALEMI / AP )
Iranian lawmakers on Thursday unanimously elected Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, former mayor of the capital Tehran, as the speaker of the country's new parliament, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Qalibaf, candidate of principlist faction, won 230 votes from the 267 lawmakers present at the parliament
Qalibaf, the candidate of principlist faction, won 230 votes out of the 267 lawmakers present at the parliament.
Meanwhile, Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Ali Nikzad were elected as the first and second vice speakers of parliament.
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Qalibaf served as Tehran's mayor from 2005 to 2017. He was the chief of Iran's Law Enforcement Force from 2000 to 2005 and commander of the Air Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from 1997 to 2000.
Iran's new parliament for the next four years opened on Wednesday, after the 11th parliamentary elections were held on Feb. 21.
The Iranian parliament currently has 290 members with a mandate of four years.
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Separately, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed former parliament speaker Ali Larijani as his adviser and member of the Expediency Council, a body intended to resolve disputes between parliament and the powerful Guardian Council, state TV also reported on Wednesday.
The Guardian Council, a watchdog, must approve all candidates for elections in Iran, including for parliament.
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With Reuters inputs
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