Tehran  - The brother of parliament speaker and former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is to be appointed as new chief of Iran's judiciary power, the Fars news agency reported Tuesday.

The spokesman of the judiciary commission of the parliament, Mohammad-Taqi Rahbar, told Fars that Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani will officially succeed Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi as judiciary head at the end of August.

The head of the judiciary in Iran is appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who according to constitution, has the final say on all state affairs.

The 49-year-old Larijani has been for eight years member of the constitutional watchdog Guardian Council, which is also on charge of the election process.

It is not yet clear whether Larijani, who was born in Najaf in southern Iraq, would adopt a more liberal course in the judiciary power but he has been more known in the recent years as scholar rather than an executive official.

Larijani has been author of eight books dealing with theological and philosophical aspect of Shiite Islam which is practiced by the majority of the 70 million Iranians.(dpa)