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Iran Politics and How Shia Clerics Govern Iran
How Iran’s President Challenged Iran’s Supreme Leader
Iran politics is complex. And that’s an understatement!
The Byzantine interworking of Iran politics should, in many ways, be expected. First, and foremost, it’s an authoritarian regime. But it’s more complicated than that.
After the 1979 Revolution, rulers of Iran attempted to meld elements of democracy into a theocratic system — which, as you’ll note in this video, cannot work! And there are many historical baggages piled on top of this heap.
Here are two that you should not forget:
1) Iran’s pre-Islamic Persian past writs large for Iranians, and
2) Shiasm was forced upon Iranians (yes, Iran was a Sunni nation) and, over time, it came to associate itself with the Iranian identity in the Middle East.
In this interview, we discuss the following:
►Was Iran’s Supreme Leader supposed to be an all-powerful king or a philosopher king?
►What are the real powers of Iran’s Supreme Leader? Does he rule by consensus or fiat?
►Have any Iranian presidents ever defied the Supreme Leader?
