IT'S THE ECONOMY, MAHMOUD:

Ahmadinejad rival takes powerful post in Iran: Ali Larijani, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator and a prominent conservative, was elected to the high-profile role of speaker of Iran's parliament (Borzou Daragahi, 5/28/08, Los Angeles Times)

A powerful rival to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became speaker of Iran's parliament today, clearing the way for a potential challenge against the hard-line head of state ahead of 2009 presidential elections.

Ali Larijani, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator and a prominent conservative, won 232 out of 263 votes cast to attain the powerful and high-profile speaker's seat. His victory over former speaker Gholam-Hossein Hadad-Adel, who rarely challenged Ahmadinejad, suggests hostility to the president among the new batch of mostly conservative lawmakers voted into office in the March parliamentary elections.