GENEVA — Hardline Iranian cleric Ebrahim Raisi was elected on Tuesday as deputy chief of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for choosing the country’s Supreme Leader, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

He got the job less than a week after he was appointed head of the judiciary, making a man viewed as a protege of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei a key player in Iran’s politics.

A potential contender to succeed Khamenei, Raisi is a former presidential candidate seen as having close links to the elite Revolutionary Guards.

He helped oversee the execution of political prisoners in 1988 when he was deputy prosecutor in Tehran.

Raisi’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

As deputy chief of the 88-member Assembly of Experts, he is likely to play a prominent role in selecting the next supreme leader.

Raisi’s position as the head of the judiciary, who is appointed by the supreme leader, is also a powerful position in a country that has long used its legal system to crack down on political dissent.

Iran says its judiciary is independent, and its judgements and rulings are not influenced by political interests.

Since the official post of “chief justice” was created in 1989, the three clerics who have occupied the post — Mohammad Yazdi, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, and Sadeq Larijani — have all served two consecutive five-year terms. However, Raisi, the only one of the four with actual judicial experience before becoming chief justice, may not have a tenure as long as his predecessors.

With Khamenei about to turn eighty, the race is on to choose his successor and Raisi is a viable contender thanks to a number of factors. Like both Khomeini and Khamenei, Raisi is a seyyed or direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). He is a former student of Khamenei and remains staunchly loyal to him.

He is politically well-connected and acceptable to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on account of his conservative views. — Agencies