Reza H. Akbari and Geneive Abdo
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on CNN.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, one of the greatest failures of the country’s leadership has been the inability to make a promised transition from a monarchy to republican rule. In fact, since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began his tenure as Supreme Leader twenty-two years ago, he has centralized power further in his own hands, creating what can be called a clerical monarchy.
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Reza H. Akbari
Mohammad Dehghan, a member of the Iranian parliament’s leadership board, announced that it is possible there will be no presidential election in 2013, which would significantly alter Iran’s political structure. He made these comments in response to the Supreme Leader’s recent statement about a potential shift from an executive presidency to a parliamentary system of government.
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Shayan Ghajar
On October 16, in an otherwise unremarkable and routine speech, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dropped a potent political bomb by suggesting that Iran could easily transition from a system with a presidency to a parliamentary-based system with an appointed prime minister. The comment, however brief, was certainly intended as a major warning to the politically rebellious faction spearheaded by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and may even indicate a sincere intent to abolish the presidency in Iran. Indeed, a number of statements by powerful elites before and after Khamenei’s speech seem to lend credence to the idea that Ahmadinejad may be one of Iran’s last presidents.
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Rasool Nafisi
While Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was touring the UN last week, delivering acerbic speeches and giving interviews, back home in the Iranian parliament questions were raised not about Ahmadinejad himself, but about the institution of the presidency in total, and whether there is a need for a president alongside the Supreme Leader’s office.
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Reza H. Akbari
The history of the Islamic Republic can be described as a lopsided battle between the conservative and reformist parties. The conservatives have thus far dominated the reformists by controlling key political positions and organizations. Excluding the eight years of Mohammad Khatami’s reformist presidency from 1997-2005, various conservative groups have been the uncontested force in the Iranian regime. more»
