Iran: Rafsanjani and Iran's Foreign Policy and Domestic Situation

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been re-elected head of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the country's most powerful state organ. While Rafsanjani, Iran's most prominent pragmatic conservative, consolidates his grip on Iran's domestic political scene, he simultaneously is taking a proactive role in the most important element of Tehran's foreign policy, something demonstrated by his recent weeklong visit to Iraq. These moves notwithstanding, Iran's domestic politics and foreign policy will remain opaque until after its June presidential election.