June 28, 2019
In a surprise vote, deputies in the Majlis have fired the Reformist chair of the National Security Committee and replaced him with a conservative. The terms of the chairs are for one year. Right-winger Alaeddin Borujerdi held the chairmanship for 14 years until he was upended last year by Reformist Heshmatollah Falahat-pisheh (photo right), who ended the raging rhetoric Borujerdi was known for. In a surprise vote this month, however, the Majlis dumped Falahatpisheh and replaced him with a conservative cleric, Mojtaba Zolnour (photo left), who represents Qom. Many Majlis analysts said Falahatpisheh brought on his own loss when a few weeks ago he called for Iran to enter diplomatic talks with Washington, despite the Supreme Leader’s order banning such talks. The new chair was last in the news about a year ago when he falsely said that President Barack Obama had handed out 2,500 green cards to members of the families of Iranian officials to bribe them into supporting the nuclear deal.
