Former Iranian president and government critic Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has given up his position atop the council that chooses or dismisses Iran’s supreme leader. Rafsanjani supported opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in 2009’s presidential election and has been a target of Iranian hardliners. He said he gave up the post to “avoid division.” He is succeeded by moderate conservative Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani.