Iran Leadership Structure
It appears that Ahmadinejad (“Ah-mah-DIHN-ee-jahd”) has won the Iran presidential election, but civil unrest, accusations, and a possible recount may change everything. At Dinner Topics, our mission is to keep things basic and brief and give you the chance to “read on” should you desire, but some topics are tough to whittle down. After reading stories about the president, a council, a Supreme Leader/Ayatollah, etc., the focus of this post is to inform you about Iran’s leadership hierarchy. If you don’t understand that, then you won’t understand the news stories. The hierarchy:
- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic: an elected position with the highest authority in Iran, currently held by Ayatollah Khamenei
- Guardian Council: 12-member group who, unlike the U.S., can veto bills even passed by the President
- President: currently held by Ahmadinejad, this role is more representative than policy-making
The hierarchy continues (find the full list here), but now you understand the why there are groups (Guardian Council) and people (Ayatollah) weighing in on the ultimate decision for the next president of Iran. I urge you to “read on” for this topic – it’s an interesting one and, despite the many differences in countries, it’s amazing how an election brings out similarities.
As of this post being published, Mousavi (the loser in the election) has asked the Guardian Council to declare the election null and void because of fraud and irregularities. The Ayatollah has also asked the Guardian Council to examine the election and to issue a report within seven to 10 days. Unless they validate the election, the real winner cannot be declared. As is the case in most elections, a reversal is highly unlikely because that will raise more democratic problems than it solves.
Bonus tidbit: many of us butcher the pronunciation of Iran, so here’s a quick guide:
- Iran correct pronunciation = EE rahn
- Iranian correct pronunciation = ee RHAN ee uhn
Read on:
Yahoo! News – The hierarchy of power in Iran
LATimes.com – IRAN: McCain stumbles over Persian leadership puzzle (old but interesting article)
WashingtonPost.com – A Massive Crowd Defies Ban in Iran
WSJ.com – Iran to Recount Some Votes
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I was listening to CNBC’s Squawk on the Street and Mark Haines was interviewing a few experts on the Iran controversy. At one point, Haines interrupted the experts, saying something like “Whoa, whoa, so when you say Supreme Leader, which sounds like Lord Voldemort, are you talking about the Ayatollah?” I would have expected a TV reporter to know that. Perhaps if he was a Dinner Topics subscriber, he would have!