Iran’s new parliament on Thursday elected former Tehran mayor Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf as its speaker, consolidating the power of conservatives ahead of next year’s presidential election. The vote further shifts the political balance toward ultra-conservative opponents of the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani at a time Iran is engaged in a bitter standoff with arch foe the United States. State television said the 58-year-old Ghalibaf — also a former national police chief and ex-commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force — won 230 of the 267 votes cast to secure one of the most influential positions in the Islamic republic.