Azernews.Az

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed 4 Faqihs (clerics qualified to judge on the basis of Islamic law) as the members of the Guardian Council, Fars news agency reported.

The appointment of Ayatollah Mohammad Momen, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi and Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi has been confirmed by Khamenei for next six years term.

Ayatollah Mehdi Shabzendedar is the new member of the council to which Khamenei appointed him, others have been reappointed.

The Guardian Council of Constitution has 12 members, a half of them (clerics) are appointed directly by Supreme Leader and the remaining ones (law experts) are introduced by Judiciary System and are qualified by Parliament.

The Iranian parliament had qualified three law expert members of the Council during a session on Sunday.

Mohsen Esmaeili, Sam Savadkouhi, and Nejatollah Ebrahimian were the three law experts elected to the Guardian Council. Two other law experts were rejected. All of them were introduced by the Judiciary System.

Abbas Kadkhodaei, who had served at the Guardian Council for two consecutive terms, failed to win the necessary number of votes.

According to the Iranian Constitution, the Guardian Council is tasked with approving candidates for presidential, parliamentary and City Council races and supervising elections.

Any bill passed by the Majlis (parliament of Iran) must also be reviewed and approved by the Guardian Council to become a law. The Council can also nullify a law based on two accounts: being against Islamic laws or being against the constitution.

Constitutionally, the six law experts are elected by the parliament and the six religious jurists are appointed by the Supreme Leader.