Iran’s Political System
Student’s name
Institutional Affiliation
Introduction
Democracy is an issue that has always been elusive in Iran. This is despite the non-violent revolutions meant to establish a system of governance that promotes political accountability and public freedom. The growth of democracy in Iran is hindered by various obstacles and it requires combined actions from Iranians to achieve it. Iran lost democracy for a period of about one year and two months as a result of a disconnect with Shah’s rule Khomeini Social injustice religious. Currently, Iran’s political system follows the Constitution of 1979 which is founded on the Islamic Revolution and the amendments passed by the popular 1989. Iran is democratic based on the fact that the president is elected democratically. Iran operates under a parliament known as Majis and an assembly of Experts which appoints the supreme leader as well as the local councils. The constitution of Iran recognizes Iran as an Islamic nation but also recognizes Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism as official religions. Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution grants Iran’s citizens the right to exercise the religion they deem right (Alipour, Hafezi, Amer, & Akhavan, 2017). Since Iran was founded as an Islamic religion, there have been all kinds of sanctions that have been imposed. From 2005 and 2013, during the tenure of president Ahmadinejad, Iran became one of the most sanctioned states in the world. These intense sanctions imposed by Ahmadinejad’s administration harmed life severely because they misguided socioeconomic policies. Further, crude oil exports from Iran have decreased sharply, domestic production has fallen, the rate of inflation has gone up, unemployment increased, the cost of consumer goods increased, and the currency decayed. This downturn did not result in the downfall of the regime. Although this regime had negative effects, the country took measures to get through the sanctions. The purpose of this text is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Iran’s political system.
Iran has been deemed a powerful monster that stretches as far as the Middle East, however, the Islamic Republic has to deal with a range of issues, both abroad and at home. Iran’s latest problem is among the most serious problem, the regime has faced for a long time. The regime has recently become unpopular among its people. The problems that Iran faces tend to limit its power and create openings which undermine the influence it has. Some of Iran’s allies including the United States note that the country’s foreign policy is vulnerable and shaky in the structure of its economy, political authority, diplomatic and military posture. Additionally, its weaknesses are bound to lessen the country’s clout and foster infighting making it hard for regimes to increase the way it has across their borders. If not properly managed, some of the weaknesses are likely to cause more political unrest.
Iran’s biggest problem has to do with the unusual yet unwieldy dual system of government that combines elections with a Supreme Leader. Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran exercises veto in decision making and are the head of the judicial system, state television, state television, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) among other powers. It has been said Khamenei, who is 80 years is set to step down because of several reasons. Although his role is said to be founded on religious authority, he tends to lack the charisma demonstrated by his immediate predecessor. Further, his religious credentials have always been the subject of scrutiny. Khamenei gained the power and authority he possesses from political loyalty and revolutionary action as opposed to theological study but at the same time, he managed to build upon the power and grow the institution of the Supreme Leader (Azad, 2017). Iran’s Supreme Leader was already making plans to ensure that succession goes smoothly but despite this, the possibility of infighting looms around. His successor inherits institutions tied to the position of Supreme Leader but there is a possibility that they might share similar religious credentials with the current leaders. Because none of the most educated theologians are revolutionary die-hards, succession will go to someone else who does not have a top clerical rank. As a result, the highest political authority that exercises power in the name of religion is most likely to remain distinct and to stand out from non-political clerics that are rather skeptical about the system. Revolutionary elites are more likely to hang together but at the same time, they depend too much on the particular leader who has been elected as well as the current politics that exist. Power struggles existing between elites are rather common and the person who holds power requires more time to consolidate it. This is particularly true for authoritarian transitions. Generally, the Islamic Republic has demonstrated a gift for the management of the struggles and complementing factionalism but the act of balancing has proven harder under the rule of a new leader who is also weak. Worth noting, in addition to the uncertainty, Iran’s economic status remains rather vulnerable. The recent protests started with economic issues before they turned political. Iran’s economy had begun to shrink before the lifting of the sanctions. However, the sanctions relief such as additional export opportunities and the unfreezing of assets has improved the economic condition of the country. Iran’s current rate of growth is 7% and it has been so for the past recent years which has contributed to a stable economy and stabilized inflation (Dizaji, Farzanegan, & Naghavi, 2016). The economy is plagued with mismanagement and corruption. Further, other hurdles follow that religious foundations and IRGC control the majority of the economy and there is stifling competition which makes political reforms rather difficult. Private investments remain on edge, particularly in the energy sector. The rather low price of oil exacerbates the situation making these structural problems more painful.
History
1979 marked a year when Iran went through the most dramatic changes in history when the Iranian Revolution took place. During the revolution, Mohammad Shah was replaced and overthrown by Ayatollah Khomeini. The once patriotic monarchy was abolished and replaced with an Islamic kind of governance and it was based on the principles of Islamic jurists where clerics function as the head of states and in other governmental positions. There was a pro-Western foreign policy that emphasized on pillars of mandatory hijabs and largely received opposition from Israel and the United States. The once rapid modern and capitalist economy was replaced with an Islamic and populist culture and economy. Ayatollah Khomeini was the founder and the leader of the Islamic Republic Revolution and he served as the Supreme Leader until 1989 when he died. Ali Khamenei took over as the Supreme Leader. During the Islamic Republic era, Iran grew from a population of 39 million in 1980 to 81.6 million in 2017. Most of the things remained the same as they were under the monarchy. To date, Iran has maintained the status as the most significant regional power which is bigger than any of its neighboring Gulf countries and possesses big oil and gas reserves. National cohesion has a brought long history to the nation. Additionally, the oil export revenues and the strong central state has brought Iran respectable income levels, college enrollment, infrastructure, literacy, and reduced infant mortality. Further, trends that were there during the monarchy system of government such as literacy increased enrollment into higher education, and urbanization continued.
After the 1979 constitution was approved, the Jaafari school of thought became Iran’s official religion. The Islamic Republic which was headed by the Supreme Leader under the Islamic theocracy became the new system of governance (Hallinger, & Hosseingholizadeh, 2020). Iran has a president who is elected and government bodies at the provisional, national, and local levels that allow both males and females to vote when they reach 18 years. The elections are supervised by Islamic theocratic bodies such as the Council of Guardians that have been given the power to decide who can run vie or parliamentary seats in the Islamic Consultative Assembly. It also holds the final word as to whether bills can be passed as laws. Nonetheless, elected organs have more power than the organs than equivalent organs within the government of Shah. Additionally, Islam is the main religion practiced in Iran. The country is also governed by Sharia law. Under the law, women must wear the hijab. At the same time, the country has the lowest attendance when it comes to going to the mosque than any other Islamic country. The Iranian clergy complain that over 70% of their Islamic population does not carry out dairy prayers and only 2% go to the mosques on Friday. For many religious minorities in Iran, life is often mixed. Khomeini called upon Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims to unite. Before the revolution, Khomeini made statements that were deemed antagonistic towards the Jews. Following his return from exile in 1979, Khomeini gave out an order that demanded the equal treatment of Jews as well as other minorities. The people who are deemed as minorities from the non-Muslim communities do not have the same equal rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, four out of the 270 seats are particularly reserved for the minority religions that are non-Islamic.
Iran’s Political Culture/Organization Over the Years
The revolution in Iran began several decades ago and through the years key events have taken place which has contributed to the current system of government. Here is how the chronology of events in Iran’s political space took place. Between 550- and 330 BC, the first Persian Empire was ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty. It stretched from Libya to the Aegean Sea all through to the Indus Valley. 636 BC marked the advent of Islam in Iran. The Arab invasion helped start the Islamic rule by putting an end to the Sassanid dynasty. In the 9th century, the modern Persian language emerged which was written using an Arabic script. In 1220 BC Persin was overrun by the Mongo, forces that later became part of the Ilkhanate which was ruled by the descendants of Hulagu. In 1501, Shah Ismail become the first ruler following the massive support of the warrior tribes of Shia Qizilbash. He ruled the Islamic Safavid dynasty till Islam was declared to be a state religion by Shia. Between 1571 and 1629, Apogee who worked under Shah Abbas, reformed the army, sidelined Qizilbash and established the maiden links with western Europe. By 1794, Mohammas Khan located Qajar’s dynasty and restored Iran’s stability after half a century. In 1828, Iran gave up control of the Caucasus to Russia following the Second World War and by 1907, the constitution was introduced which served the purpose of limiting the absolutists power which rulers had.
1921 to 1953 marked a period of the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran. Reza Khan, who was military commander seized power in February 1921 and by April 1926, he crowned Reza Shah Pahlavi as the leader. In 1935, Iran adopted its official name for the country. In 1941, the allegiance of Shah after the Second World War led to the Anglo-Russian occupation and a deposition where Shah’s son, Mohammad Pahlavi, was favored. The parliament cats a vote in April 1951 to nationalize the oil sector which was initially dominated by the British-owned Anglo-Iran oil Company. Britain imposed a blockade and embargo, which halted the trade of oil which hurt the country’s economy. A power struggle ensued between Mohammad Mossadeq and the Shah. In 1953, Prime Minister Mossadeq was overthrown in a coup which was planned by U and Britain intelligence services. As a result, General Fazlollah Zahedi took over the role of prime minister and Shah returned to exile temporarily. In 1963, Shah launched a program to reform land and social and economic modernization. In the late 1960s, Shah started depending on the SAVAK secret police to control the opposition movements. In 1978, the policies implemented by Shah came to an end as martial law too following mass demonstrations, strikes, and riots.
In January 1979, Shah alongside his family was forced into exile as the political situation deteriorated. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini came back after spending 14 years of exile in France and Iraq. In 1979, the Islamic Republic came into effect following a referendum and in 1979 November, 52 Americans are taken hostage by the Islamic militants in the US embassy located in Tehran (Rahnavard, Alipour, Dehdar, & Khalili). They were demanding the extradition of Shah at the time of the trial. Abolhasan Sadr was elected ad the first Islamic Republic president in 1980 and his administration set out to begin the major nationalization program. In 1980, Shah succumbs to cancer while in Egypt. In September 1980, Iran was invaded by Iraq after years of disagreements over their territories particularly the Shatt Al Arab waterway (Daneshvar, 2016). . This was after the Iraqi president announced his intention of reclaiming Shatt al Arab, after which a war that lasted eight years broke out. In 1981, 444 hostages were released following negotiations but the United States and Algeria. In 19585, the Unites States seeks to sell arms to Iran in exchange for them to release seven Americans held as hostages by militants backed by the Iranian government in Lebanon. In 1988, Iran agrees to Resolution 598 formed by the United Nations Security Council which led to a cease-fire in the Iraq-Iran war. In 1989, Khomeini dies and the elected body of clerics known as the Assembly of Experts appoints Ali Khomeini to take over as the national leaders. Later that year in August, Ali Rafsanjani is promoted to the position of president after serving as the speaker. He was an influential member of the Council of revolution within the early days of the Islamic Republic. Rafsanjani won the election in 1993 and in 1995, the United States put up trade and oil sanctions against Iran and accuses Iran of seeking to sabotage the peace process in Israeli and Arab, carrying out abuses against human rights, and accusing the country of perpetuating and sponsoring terrorism.
Ali Mohammad Ardakani becomes elected as the president in a landslide victory after making pledges to reform the social, economic, and political facets of the country. In 2000, allies of president Khatami won 189 out of the 290 parliamentary seats which set the stage for reformers to start controlling legislature for the first time since the Islamic revolution took place in 1979. President Khatami won the re-election in 2001 and 2002, President George Bush accused Iran of actively perpetuating weapons of war and mass destruction, a speech that was met by anger. In 2003, the International Atomic Energy Agency notes the lack of evidence pointing to nuclear destruction and Iran agrees to cooperate during the more rigorous inspection to be conducted in regards to nuclear facilities. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for ways to ease the tension but at the same time continues to defy the deadlines given by the United Nations to stop activities linked with enrichment using uranium. In 2007, President Mahmoud announced new economic sanctions that targeted the military and halted Tehran’s nuclear program. In 2008, Iran’s suspected research has deemed an issue of concern by the International Atomic Energy Agency and a year later, President Mahmoud is declared as the victor in the presidential elections, an issue that sparked demonstrations by the people who supported his opponent candidate, Hossein Mousavi, who tried to appeal the results through the Guardian Council of Iran without success.
Iran’s Interest Articulation
Interest articulation refers to the avenue used by members of a given society to express their needs to the people in the system of governance. To articulate their interest, countries use various interest groups, trust, and civil societies. In Iran, there are hardly any interest groups in the repressive regime of the Islamic Republic. In Iran, almost everything is deemed religious. However, the main interest group is the Bonyads. This is a charitable trust which dominates the non-petroleum economy of Iran. This means that it is in charge of controlling about 20% of the country’s gross domestic product. Notably, this issue remains highly controversial as it is exempted from government control as well as taxes. Most people consider it as a weakness in the Iranian economy. Additionally, it is hard for citizens to access and participate in society and terms of voting rates, the 2009 election recorded 80% voting rates. Furthermore, the use of social network tools and websites is becoming a rather important avenue for civil society activists to capitalize. Notably, the government is constantly blocking the sites. Civil society has limited authority and can best be described as a barren intellectual exercise. Currently, the Iran political doctrine is subordinate to the divine sharia which is enforced by the government despite being increasingly rejected by most of the Iranian population.
Interest Aggregation
Interest aggregation has to do with the activities in which a group of people used to ask for political demands is brought together as programs. In Iran, formal political parties are a new concept and most conservatives still prefer working in a group of political pressures as opposed to political parties. However, Iran is still considered a party system that is competitive. Various conservative groups came together as two separate coalitions; the Popular Coalition of Principlists and the United Front of Principlists. The rest of the groups remain outside the coalition. Reformist groups such as Islamic Iran Participation and Mujahideen of the Islamic Religion (MIRO) joined together to form a reformist coalition before the Majles elections held in 2008. The National Trust party was also an influential reformist group. Notably, Iran has 30 provinces in its administrative subdivisions and the average suffrage is 18 years.
Government structure and Leadership
The government of Iran has four divisions namely, the executive, legislative, judicial, and military. The executive comprises the president, council of ministers, assembly of experts, the expediency council, and the council of guardians. The Supreme Leader is the head of States, he is appointed to serve for life unless the Assembly of Experts decides to remove him. The supreme leader has the final say when it comes to Iranian policies and he appoints the 12 members of the Guardian Council and the head of the judiciary (Danaei, Farzadfar, Kelishadi, Rashidian, Rouhani, Ahmadnia, & Malekzadeh, 2019). The President, on the other hand, is the head of the government, He is elected for four-year terms by popular vote are responsible for government decisions, the appointment of the council of ministers, and the implementation of the constitution. The Council of Guardians comprises 12 individuals where 6 are religious individuals appointed by the supreme leader and the other six by the Majles. The council of Guardians is tasked with ensuring the legislative complies with the judiciary. The legislative functions in a 4-year cycle and comprises of a 290 member Majles. The judiciary is responsible for supervising the enforcement of laws and establishing legal and judicial policies. The military is tasked with keeping Iranian borders safe.
Policymaking Process in Iran
Iranian presidents play a fundamental role in the country’s decision-making process. The 2009 elections evoked international interest in their presidential elections with the focus shifting to the importance of the president’s office in shaping policies in Iran. The president is under the authority of the Supreme Leader and makes most decisions on the significant issues on foreign policies, for instance, the country’s relationship with the United States, nuclear negotiations, and security and military issues. The office of the president on the other hand is involved in the important role of deciding domestic policy particularly on matters that touch on the economy. The president also has the power to move a motion on international relations in a different direction. The system of governance of Iran is unique in the world with the Supreme Leader being in charge of matters of peace and war, a division that is mostly handled by the president in most countries. The Supreme Leader holds the final say when it comes to a matter relating to the State of Iran.
Comparing Iran to Russia and China.
A lot has been said as regards the democracy of Iran. Some analysts hold that Russia’s political system is just like Mexico and Turkey’s and similarly, others hold that Russia today is a free market and more democratic than it was in the year 2000 (Chubin, & Zabih, 2020). This is despite the various troubling restrictions on political parties and the media. Iran and Russia share various interests. The two countries both oppose the idea and the influence brought about in the Middle East. Both countries are afraid of the internal democratic opponents and maintain that the United States ought to support them. They also fear Jihadists in the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. Despite the many common interests, Iran and Russia differ on important issues. Russia has good relation with countries that Iran considers as adversaries such as Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bhanraina, and Saudi Arabia. The Islamic Republic of Iran poses a challenge to the interest that the US has in the Middle East. It continues to dissuade Iran from making nuclear weapons at all costs. The imposed sanctions against Iran rely on international actors such as Germany, Id=ndia, Russia, South Koram, and Turkey which each maintain financial and commercial ties. However, the United States has not managed to win the cooperation of China. To date, China is reluctant to support sanctions raised against Iran and this is as a result of the deep and broad partnership that has existed for the last three decades. Despite the thirst for independence from foreign external controls, Iran relies heavily on China diplomatically, economically, and militarily. The main countries that Iran faces are corruption and economic problems occasioned by oil export. If it was a democratic country, it would be easy to address the gaps in governance that led to corruption.
Conclusion.
Democracy is an issue that has always been elusive in Iran. This is despite the non-violent revolutions meant to establish a system of governance that promotes political accountability and public freedom. Currently, Iran’s political system follows the Constitution of 1979 which is founded on the Islamic Revolution and the amendments passed by the popular 1989. Iran is democratic based on the fact that the president is elected democratically. Iran operates under a parliament known as Majis and an assembly of Experts which appoints the supreme leader as well as the local councils. After the 1979 constitution was approved, the Jaafari school of thought became Iran’s official religion. The Islamic Republic which was headed by the Supreme Leader under the Islamic theocracy became the new system of governance. Iran has a president who is elected and government bodies at the provisional, national, and local levels.
References
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