Al-Monitor - After 10 years as head of one of the most important institutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani will step down as chief of the judiciary and be replaced by Ebrahim Raisi. Larijani will join other recent government semi-retirees as a member of the Expediency Council, an institution designed to resolve differences between the parliament and the Guardian Council.

Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hussein Mohseni Ejei confirmed Raisi’s appointment March 3 during a press conference. This confirmation that Raisi had been appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was followed by comments from Yayha Kamalipour, a member of parliament’s judiciary commission, who said Raisi will take over March 8.

Raisi first entered the national stage in 2016 when Ayatollah Khamenei appointed him as custodian of Astan-e Quds Razavi, one of the wealthiest endowments in Iran, which operates the Imam Reza Shrine and a vast amount of surrounding property in the northeastern city of Mashhad. The previous custodian, Ayatollah Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, had held the position since the 1979 Islamic Revolution until his death in 2016.

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