Assembly of Experts to Convene 14th Session

In the two-day meeting, members of the Assembly of Experts will discuss the latest developments in the country as well as important regional and international issues.

President Rouhani is scheduled to give an hour-long speech Wednesday, in which he will touch on the most significant developments inside and outside the country.

Moreover, Commander of Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Qassem Soleimani is the special guest of this session and will brief members of the assembly on the latest developments across the region on Tuesday.

Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Presiding Board of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, told Tasnim earlier that the Iranian general is invited to deliver a speech to members of the assembly on the most recent developments across the Islamic world, particularly in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

This year’s meeting comes at a critical juncture when a wave of crises has gripped some countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Egypt, the most populous Arab country, is in the grip of a major crisis these days. The army toppled the democratically elected president, Mohamed Mursi on July 3, installed an interim president and violently crushed camped-out protesters who wanted Mursi to be reinstated.Last month, hundreds of protesters died when security forces stormed pro-Mursi camps in the capital. 

Syria is another volatile country in the region that scuffles with a nearly 3-year-long crisis.

The US and its allies are considering military action against Syria after foreign-backed opposition forces accused President Bashar al-Assad’s government of having launched a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21.

However, Damascus has categorically rejected the claim, and announced that rebels themselves carried out the gas attack as a ploy to draw in foreign military intervention.