Iran's Assembly of Experts

Assembly of Experts
Leadership
Chairman	Ahmad Jannati Since 24 May 2016
First Deputy Chairman	Ali Movahedi-Kermani Since 24 May 2016
Second Deputy Chairman	Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi Since 21 October 2012
Structure
Seats	88
Political groups	Combatant Clergy Association Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom People's Experts
Length of term	8 years
Elections
Voting system	Multi-seat districts: Plurality-at-large voting Single-seat districts: First-past-the-post voting
Last election	26 February 2016
Meeting place
Assembly of Experts building, Tehran, Iran
Website
http://www.majlesekhobregan.ir/

The Assembly of Experts (Persian: مجلس خبرگان رهبری‎, translit. Majles-e Khobregān-e Rahbari) —also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts— is the deliberative body empowered to designate and dismiss the Supreme Leader of Iran. However all directly-elected members after the vetting process by the Guardian Council still have to be approved by the Supreme Leader of Iran before gaining membership to the Assembly of Experts.

All candidates to the Assembly of Experts must be approved by the Guardian Council whose members are, in turn, appointed either directly or indirectly by the Supreme Leader. The Assembly consists of eighty eight Mujtahids that are elected (after approval by Supreme Leader ) from lists of thoroughly vetted candidates by direct public vote for eight-year terms. The number of members has ranged from 82 elected in 1982 to 88 elected in 2016. Current laws require the assembly to meet for at least two days every six months. The current chairman of the Fifth Assembly is Ahmad Jannati.

The Assembly has never questioned the Supreme Leader. Due to Ali Khamenei's very longtime unchallenged rule, many believe the Assembly of Experts has become a ceremonial body without any real power. Iran's Chief Justice Sadeq Larijani, a Khamenei appointee, stated that it is illegal for the Assembly of Experts to supervise Khamenei. There have been instances when the current Supreme Leader publicly criticized members of the Assembly of Experts, resulting in their arrest and dismissal. For example, Khamenei publicly called member of the Assembly of Experts Ahmad Azari Qomi a traitor, resulting in Qomi's arrest and eventual dismissal from the Assembly of Experts. Another instance is when Khamenei indirectly called the late Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani a traitor for a statement he made resulting Rafsanjani to retract it.Mehdi Karroubi, who has been under house arrest since 2011 without trial, by the direct order of Khamenei, said that "the Assembly of Experts, a council of elected clerics charged with electing, supervising and even disqualifying the Supreme Leader, has turned into a ceremonial council that only praises the Leader.”