Who Managed the Assemblies After the Revolution?

Since the 1979 Revolution, five individuals have presided over the assemblies of Iran. All five are still alive and have each had different fates. This report reviews the performance and current conditions of each of the post-revolutionary assembly presidents. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, with two full terms and one partial term, has the longest tenure compared to his peers in managing the assemblies after the revolution. Before his presidency of the first assembly, then called the National Council, he was known as one of the closest students and associates of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and a founder of the Combatant Clergy Association and the Islamic Republic Party in Iran's political landscape. He was recognized as one of the leaders of the movement known as the Imam Line and was also a member of the Revolutionary Council. With this background, he was able to assume the presidency in the first assembly formed after the 1979 Revolution, in the presence of figures such as Ali Khamenei, Mehdi Bazargan, Mohammad Ali Rajai, Hassan Habibi, and Mostafa Chamran. During his presidency, Mr. Hashemi played a significant and influential role in many important decisions of the assembly, including the dismissal of Abolhassan Banisadr, the release of American hostages, and the vote of confidence for Mir Hossein Mousavi's government and his ministers. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani holds the record for the presidency of assemblies after the revolution with more than two terms. After the death of Ayatollah Khomeini and the election of Ali Khamenei as the new leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, while half of the third assembly's term remained, ran for the presidency. He served two terms as President of Iran and after his presidency, he became the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, a position he still holds, although since the early 2000s, due to some of his stances, his distance from Ayatollah Khamenei has increased. This distance peaked during the events of 2009, and since then, he has been labeled by figures and media close to conservatives as one of the supporters of the unrest and a short-sighted figure. Mehdi Karroubi has a history of one full term and one partial term as president of the assembly. This student and companion of Ayatollah Khomeini was present in the first three assemblies after the revolution and, having had appointments from the founder of the Islamic Republic, was able to take over the presidency of the assembly that was under the control of the left faction after Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's departure. After Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected president, Mehdi Karroubi became the president of the third assembly and later also presided over the sixth assembly. His two-year presidency in the third assembly coincided with the rise of the religious right faction in Iranian politics. During this period, the Guardian Council's interpretation of its supervisory role led to the exclusion of a significant number of representatives close to the left faction, and Mehdi Karroubi could not continue his presidency in the next assembly. His other term as president came during the resurgence of the left faction, now known as reformists. Although he was not the first choice of the Participation Party, which held the majority in the assembly, his presidency was eventually accepted. However, his presidency of the sixth assembly was more controversial than his previous term. He faced criticism from reformists for some of his decisions, such as withdrawing the press law reform proposal by the Supreme Leader's decree, but on the other hand, his stance in cases like the arrest of the representative from Hamadan or issuing a death sentence for Hashem Aghajari was welcomed by them. However, like his previous term, due to widespread disqualifications, despite being approved, he was unable to return to the assembly and subsequently failed in both of his attempts to run for the presidency in the 2005 and 2009 elections, protesting the vote counts in both cases. These protests ultimately led to his house arrest, a restriction that still applies to him. Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri presided over the fourth and fifth assemblies. These terms were controlled by the faction known as the religious right after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini. Ali Akbar Jamshidi, known as Nategh-Nouri, was recognized as one of the prominent figures of the right faction from the first assembly he attended. After the sixth assembly fell into the hands of reformists, Nategh-Nouri somewhat withdrew from politics. In the fourth assembly, which saw widespread disqualifications of figures close to the left faction, he assumed the presidency and played a role in opposing some members of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's cabinet, including the first impeachment that led to the dismissal of ministers after the revolution. However, his most newsworthy term was in the fifth assembly, where his attempt to become president was unsuccessful, losing the competition to Mohammad Khatami by a significant margin. After that, he witnessed the confrontation between the conservative-controlled assembly and Khatami's reformist government. During this time, Mr. Nategh-Nouri managed two important impeachment sessions related to Abdollah Nouri and Attaollah Mohajerani, the former leading to dismissal and the latter, despite predictions, resulting in the minister's retention. After the sixth assembly fell to reformists, Nategh-Nouri somewhat withdrew from politics, although he was appointed by the Supreme Leader as the head of the Leader's Inspection Office and became a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, responsibilities he still holds. However, after the events of 2009 and the attacks directed at him by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he distanced himself further from the right faction, which has since been labeled conservative, and has become closer to figures like Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Hassan Rouhani. Gholamali Haddad-Adel managed the seventh assembly as the first non-clerical president after the revolution. This period was entirely under the control of a faction that had new names such as Abadgaran after widespread disqualifications. Gholamali Haddad-Adel, having led the minority faction in the sixth assembly, symbolized the rise of a group of individuals who were completely loyal to the Supreme Leader in politics. The assembly under Mr. Haddad-Adel's leadership spent its first two years opposing Mohammad Khatami's government and, in events such as the inauguration of Imam Airport, supported the Revolutionary Guards, impeaching and dismissing Minister of Roads Ahmad Khorram. In the second half of its term, this assembly cooperated with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first government, and Gholamali Haddad-Adel, as president, tried to showcase a friendly relationship between the heads of the two branches. Ali Larijani, with a background as the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, became the first person in the history of the Islamic Republic to assume the presidency of the assembly despite the presence of the previous president. He, who came to the assembly from Qom, attempted to present an independent face of the assembly under his presidency by defeating his rival Gholamali Haddad-Adel. Ali Larijani is now looking forward to his third term as president of the assembly. His presidency in the eighth assembly coincided with the events of 2009, which completely affected the political scene in Iran, and during this period, Mr. Larijani took actions such as forming fact-finding committees regarding incidents such as the attack on the university campus and the Subhan complex. These actions were later halted upon observing the government's determination to confront the protesters. However, Larijani's most significant actions were in his confrontations with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government. Ahmadinejad's second government had the most confrontations and disagreements with the assembly under Larijani's leadership, which escalated to open attacks between the two in the assembly's public sessions. However, with the change of government, Larijani has cooperated with Hassan Rouhani's cabinet and has been a supporter of nuclear negotiations and the implementation of the JCPOA. With this background, Mr. Larijani is looking forward to his third term as president of the assembly to surpass Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's record and become the longest-serving president of various assemblies.