INSIDER
Hard-line former Tehran mayor named Iran parliament speaker
Read full article: Hard-line former Tehran mayor named Iran parliament speakerMohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center, is surrounded by a group of lawmakers after being elected as speaker of the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, May 28, 2020. Iran's parliament voted Thursday to elect Qalibaf, a hard-line former mayor of Tehran as the legislative body's new speaker. As speaker, Qalibaf leads a body that can debate Iran's annual budget and push for the impeachment of government ministers. That takes on new importance as the U.S. withdrew waivers from Iran's nuclear program late Wednesday and as tensions between the two nations remain high. A trained pilot, Qalibaf served in the paramilitary Guard during the countrys bloody 1980s war with Iraq.