Untangling Iran's Politics

by Ali-Asad

On March 14^th Iran held parliamentary elections with ‘moderate’ conservatives and ‘reformists’ gaining ground but Ahmadinejad supporters still in control of parliament – the Majlis. Ahmadinejad won the presidential election in 2005 besting some well known politicians. Ordinarily, you would think that with controlling both the Presidency and Parliament Ahmedinejad would be the most powerful person in Iran. Think again. Iran has a complex government structure full of checks and balances seeking to accurately adhere to Islamic law (Arabic: shari'a). Below I have diagrammatically represented Iran’s complex government which consists of two executives (Supreme Leader and President) and one legislative body (Majlis) along with three other oversight bodies that seek to provide those checks and balances.


Iran's Governmental Structure

The Guardian Council has the most number of arrows pointing out of it making it perhaps the most powerful body of the government. The Council is composed of 12 scholars, 6 selected by the Supreme Leader and 6 nominated by the judiciary, which is selected by the Supreme Leader, and approved by the Majlis. This body is charged with maintaining the integrity of the Islamic Republic. Also, the Guardian Council acts as a constitutional court and vets candidates for the Presidency, Majlis and Assembly of Experts to make sure they meet the Islamic Republic’s standards. This body is often criticized for being a roadblock to reform. In last week’s parliamentary elections, the Guardian Council rejected over 1,700 reformist candidates. Evidently, the Council felt these reformists were a threat to the fairly young Republic.

To digress, Iran’s current governmental system was set up in 1979 after a popular uprising inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini lead to the ousting of the US-backed Shah. The newly established constitution created the position of Supreme Leader in accordance with Khomeni’s controversial ‘Rule of the Islamic Jurist’ opinion (Farsi: vilayat-e-faqih) – a scholarly ruling which stated that authority to rule in an Islamic state must be given to a religious scholar/cleric with a high amount of knowledge and education in the religious sciences. This idea was based on the concept of that scholars were now deputies of the 12th Hidden Imam and therefore derived some authority in his absence.

Iran’s Supreme Leader is the highest executive office with powers similar to that of the US presidency. The Supreme leader serves as Commander-in-Chief, sets the tone for foreign policy and has the last say on all domestic policy. Constitutionally, the Supreme Leader is elected by the Assembly of Experts to a 7 year term. Iran has had 2 Supreme Leaders in its 30 year history. Although the Supreme Leader is the chief executive, the execution and formulation of policy is mostly attended to by the President who is the highest elected official and is elected to serve a 4 year term.

The Majlis consists of 290 seats with 5 seats reserved for religious minorities and is Iran’s only legislative body. It also approves half the members of the powerful Guardian Council. But since most laws must be authorized by the President and vetted by the Guardian Council, the influence of this body is limited. In order to facilitate the smooth running of government, the Expediency Council was formed to resolve disputes between the Guardian Council and the Majlis. The Expediency Council also advises the Supreme Leader.

The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) formulates foreign policy and, importantly, the government’s nuclear policy. This body is chaired by the President and consists of the Supreme Leader, heads of all the major governmental bodies plus army chiefs, cabinet officials and diplomats.

In light of the above, it would be a mistake to assume that Ahmedinejad is the main player in Iranian politics. Here, I have demonstrated that Iranian constitution provides many checks and balances over the President and the Supreme through the one elected parliament and other appointed bodies that consist of religious scholars. But Iran’s constitutional Islamic Republic is less than 30 years old. And with any new form of government, important personalities help shape the roles of positions in government.

So, is Iran a democracy? Yes, insofar as the government relies of popular support for legitimacy. All governmental authority emanates from the people. Iran’s Supreme Leader is elected by the Assembly of Experts which is elected by the people. The President and Parliament are both directly elected. But with the Supreme Leader able to select the Judiciary, the Supreme Leader basically selects the Guardian Council – the body that interprets the constitution and approves candidates for President, Parliament and the Assembly of Experts. Therefore, the Supreme Leader indirectly exercises great influence over the directly elected bodies of government. In other words, the constitution greatly dilutes that power of the ballot. But then how is Iran a democracy if the Supreme Leader can easily dismiss the will of the people? Of what use are elections? The constitution empowers the Supreme Leader to resist public opinion and keep the State on an ‘Islamic’ path. Therefore, only an overwhelming majority of public opinion that filters through to the highest echelons of power could force change. In the mean time, the Iranian people will have to settle for a slow, gradual evolution of change after their revolution.

And that's jus' the tip.

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References/Further Reading

Iran Between Two Revolutions (Princeton Studies on the Near East)

Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic

Politics and Government of Iran, Wikipedia