Los Angeles Times: Iranian opposition backer loses clerical post,

Reporting from Tehran and Beirut

The Iranian opposition's most powerful sympathizer lost his post Tuesday as head of an important clerical body that oversees the country's supreme leader.

Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president, lost his seat as head of the Assembly of Experts in what is widely considered a victory for his conservative rivals, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, a more traditional conservative cleric, became leader of the clerical body with 63 of 86 votes.

Rafsanjani's loss marks the latest blow to an opposition movement that took to the streets by the millions in 2009 but was struggling to regain momentum after being brutally crushed by Iranian security forces during the last 20 months.

Rasfanjani withdrew his candidacy for reelection as head of the Assembly of Experts after an intense media campaign against him by Ahmadeinjad and his hard-line allies in government. The assembly has the power —- in theory, at least — to appoint the supreme leader and oversee his performance.

Politics plays a heavy role in deciding who serves in the assembly, and the hard-line faction has been pushing for Rasfanjani's removal for some time.