Ali Meshkini

Ayatollah Ali Meshkini was a senior cleric who served as the first and longest-serving chairman of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership from its establishment in 1983 until his death in 2007. He was elected to the Assembly of Experts for the Constitution in 1979, representing East Azerbaijan Province. A loyal supporter of Ruhollah Khomeini and later Ali Khamenei, he was based in the Qom seminary and was a member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom. His long chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts gave him a pivotal role in the supervision of the Supreme Leader's office, though the assembly rarely exercised its oversight powers during his tenure.