Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. D.Khatinoglu / After the death of Ayatollah Meshkini 86, the Chairman of the Supreme Religious Council, disputes have taken place regarding candidates for his post.
"The election of Mesbah Yazdi as Chairman of the Supreme Religious Council of Iran would be a dreadful situation, Alirza Nourizadeh, the Iranian political scientist believes. Discussions relating to the nomination of candidacy of the Deputy Chairman of the Council, Akpar Rafsanjani, the Minister of Justice, Hashimi Shahroudi and the representative of radical forces, Mesbah Yazdi have caused tension.
Nourizadeh has reported from London to the Trend Information Agency on 13 August that despite control over the religious leaders, the Council has held ineffective activities since Ali Khamenei took over this post. "The number of representatives of the Council, which included 86 members, presently does not include 40 people. The chairman of the Council has appointed himself as the representative of the Control-Inspection Commission of the National Council and they in turn elect the members of the Supreme Religious Council.
"If Rafsanji, the deputy chairman of the Council, alongside the representatives of deliberative-discipline body will be elected to the post of the Council, this will positively affect thefunctioning of the Council. Rafsani supports the limitation of powers of religious leaders and entrust the individual power to a single Council. Nurizadeh stated that if Hashimi Shahroudi or Abbas Vaez Tabasi heads the Council, then it will not have a political importance. Should Masbah Yazdi become the chairman then Iran will be the second Taliban, the Iranian political scientist believes.
Ahmad Zeyd, the Iranian political scientist, reported to BBC on 30 July that despite this, there was a good chance that Rafsanji would be elected Chairman. Yazdi and the President of Iran, Ahmadinejad are both against his candidacy.