Mr. KARIM SADJAPOUR (Analyst, International Crisis Group): They granted supervisory powers to the expediency council.

NPR: Iran's New President Stirs Political Turmoil

So all government macropolicy needs to be first discussed with the expediency council before it's carried out.

NPR: Iran's New President Stirs Political Turmoil

Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric who heads the Expediency Council and Assembly of Experts, remains an influential figure in Iran.

CNN: Ahmadinejad lashes out at Iran's ex-presidents

Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric who heads the Expediency Council and Assembly of Experts, was president of Iran from 1989 to 1997.

CNN: Iranian political drama unfolds as election nears

Moussavi is a member of Iran's Expediency Council, which mediates between the parliament and the non-elected Guardian Council led by Ayatollah Khamenei.

CNN: Commentary: Iran's hardliners are the real losers

In addition to Mousavi, two other challengers -- former parliament speaker Mahdi Karoudi, another reformist, and hardliner Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Expediency Council -- are hoping to unseat Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election.

CNN: Ahmadinejad lashes out at Iran's ex-presidents

He was the speaker of parliament and Khomeini's right-hand man in the 1980s, president of Iran from 1989 to 1997 and is now chairman of the powerful Expediency Council, which resolves disputes between the clerical establishment and parliament.

FORBES: Millionaire Mullahs

As the newly appointed head of one of Iran's all-important councils (the Council of Expediency), his influence is unlikely to die down.

ECONOMIST: Islam and the ballot box | The