A conservative critic of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has been returned as speaker of Iran’s newly elected parliament.
Ali Larijani was voted in by parliament members on May 28, defeating a challenge from Gholam Ali Hadad Adel.
Larijani and Adel are both described as being close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but with Adel backing a more moderate approach to Ahmadinejad’s administration.
Conservative opponents of Ahmadinejad won a majority of the seats in parliament in elections that ended earlier this month.
The U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch called the elections "grossly unfair" because most of the approved candidates were conservative regime supporters.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP