Details were added (first version was posted at 12:28)
Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani was appointed after 63 members of the body voted in favor of him on Tuesday morning, Press TV reported.
Kani was born in 1931 in the Ken village near Tehran. He was one of five organizers of the revolutionary council that was created after the Islamic revolution in Iran. During Recai's government, Kani served as interior minister, and after the assassination of Recai, he was acting prime minister. Kani is a member of the Council of Elders (Hobregan) of Iran and Secretary General of the Society of Spiritual Fighters, which is one of the most important parties in the camp of conservatives.
The Assembly of Experts consists of 86 clerics elected by the public to eight-year terms.
The body is tasked with electing a new leader in the event of the passing of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
The Assembly is presently headed by the veteran revolutionary figure and two-term former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani, who headed the Experts Assembly for several years, declined to stand as candidate for the position and supported Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani's candidacy.
Iran's Assembly of Experts is responsible to supervise the performance of the Leader. The 86-man body can elect or dismiss the Leader.