Politics of Iran
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Politics of Iran takes place in the framework of an Islamic theocratic republic. The December 1979 constitution, and its 1989 amendment, define the political, economic, and social order of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It declares that Shi'a Islam of the Twelver (Jaafari) sect is Iran's official religion.
[edit] Political conditions
Iran's post-revolution difficulties have included an eight-year war with Iraq, internal political struggles and unrest, and economic disorder. The early days of the regime were characterized by severe human rights violations and political turmoil, including the seizure of the United States embassy compound and its occupants on November 4, 1979, by Iranian militants. As the United States no longer has formal diplomatic relations with Iran, Switzerland handles U.S. interests in Iran.
By mid-1982, a succession of power struggles eliminated first the center of the political spectrum and then the leftists, leaving only the clergy and their supporters in power. There has been some moderation of excesses both internally and internationally, although there are claims that Iran still remains a sponsor of terrorism.
The Islamic Republic Party was Iran's dominant political party until its dissolution in 1987; Iran had no functioning political parties until the Executives of Construction Party formed in 1994 to run for the fifth parliamentary elections, mainly out of executive body of the government close to the then-president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. After the election of Mohammad Khatami in 1997, more parties started to work, mostly of the reformist movement and opposed by hard-liners. This led to incorporation and official activity of many other groups, including hard-liners. The Iranian Government is opposed by a few armed political groups, including the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, the People's Fedayeen, and the Kurdish Democratic Party.
In February, 2003, for the second time local elections had taken place since being introduced in 1999 as part of President Khatami's concept of a civil society at the grassroots level. 905 city councils and 34,205 village councils were up for election. In Tehran and some of the major cities, all of the seats were taken back by conservatives over reformists. This swing was caused by widespread abstention from the local elections. In Tehran only about 10% of the electorate voted, following appeals by reformist groups.
In February 2004 Parliament elections, the Council of Guardians banned thousands of candidates, including most of the reformist members of the parliament and all the candidates of the Islamic Iran Participation Front party from running. This led to a win by the conservatives of at least 70% of the seats. Approximately 60% of the eligible voting population participated in the elections.
[edit] The closed loop of power
According to current election laws, a body of 12 experts called the Guardian Council oversees and approves electoral candidates for most national elections in Iran. The majority of the members of this body are appointed by the Supreme Leader. According to the current law, this council vets also Assembly of Experts candidates, which in turn in supervise and elect the Supreme Leader, which ultimately creates a closed loop of power.
In addition, current elections law requires Assembly of Experts candidates to be religious mujtahids, which greatly narrows the potential field.
Neither of these two laws are mandated by the constitution and are ordinary laws passed by the Parliament or the Assembly of Experts, which therefore can theoretically be reversed. However, despite efforts of many political activists, it has proven to be practically impossible to do so until now.
Many Iranian reformists (including Abdollah Noori) consider this to be the core legal obstacle for a truly democratic system in Iran.
The political system of the Islamic Republic is based on the 1979 Constitution called the "Qanun-e Asasi" ("Fundamental Law"). The system comprises several intricately connected governing bodies, most of which are appointed.
[edit] The Supreme Leader
The Supreme Leader of Iran is responsible for the delineation and supervision of "the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran". The Supreme Leader is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations; and has sole power to declare war. The heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces and six of the twelve members of the Council of Guardians are appointed by the Supreme Leader. The Assembly of Experts elects and dismisses the Supreme Leader on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem--none have ever been dismissed.<ref name=loc">Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. "Iran - The Constitution". Retrieved on 2006-04-14.</ref> The Assembly of Experts is responsible for supervising the Supreme Leader in the performance of legal duties.
[edit] Executive branch
The Constitution defines the President as the highest state authority after the Supreme Leader. The President is elected by universal suffrage, by those 15 years old and older[1], for a term of four years. Presidential candidates must be approved by the Council of Guardians prior to running. The President is responsible for the implementation of the Constitution and for the exercise of executive powers, except for matters directly related to the Supreme Leader. The President appoints and supervises the Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature. Eight Vice-Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of 21 ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature. Unlike many other states, the executive branch in Iran does not control the armed forces. Although the President appoints the Ministers of Intelligence and Defense, it is customary for the President to obtain explicit approval from the Supreme Leader for these two ministers before presenting them to the legislature for a vote of confidence.
[edit] Legislative branch
Council of Guardians • Expediency Council • Majles (Islamic Consultative Assembly)
•Note: The Expediency Council also functions like a privy council to the Supreme Leader.
The legislature of Iran is the tricameral.
[edit] Council of Guardians
The Council of Guardians comprises 12 jurists including six appointed by the Supreme Leader. The head of the judiciary, who is also appointed by the Supreme Leader, recommends the remaining six, who are officially appointed by Majles. The Council interprets the constitution and may veto Parliament. If a law is deemed incompatible with the constitution or Sharia (Islamic law) , it is referred back to Parliament for revision. In a controversial exercise of its authority, the Council has drawn upon a narrow interpretation of Iran's constitution to veto parliamentary candidates.
[edit] Expediency Council
The Expediency Council has the authority to mediate disputes between Majles and the Council of Guardians, and serves as an advisory body to the Supreme Leader, making it one of the most powerful governing bodies in the country.
[edit] Majles
Majles-e Shura-ye Eslami (Islamic Consultative Assembly), comprising 290 members elected for four-year terms. The Majlis drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the national budget. All Majlis candidates and all legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Council of Guardians.
Before the Islamic Revolution, there was an Iranian Senate in addition to the Majles, but the mullahs dismantled this chamber forthwith.
[edit] Judicial branch
The Supreme Leader appoints the head of the Judiciary, who in turn appoints the head of the supreme court and the chief public prosecutor. There are several types of courts including public courts that deal with civil and criminal cases, and "revolutionary courts" which deal with certain categories of offenses, including crimes against national security. The decisions of the revolutionary courts are final and cannot be appealed. The Special Clerical Court handles crimes allegedly committed by clerics, although it has also taken on cases involving lay people. The Special Clerical Court functions independently of the regular judicial framework and is accountable only to the Supreme Leader. The Court’s rulings are final and cannot be appealed.
[edit] Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week annually, comprises 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by adult suffrage for eight-year terms. As with the presidential and parliamentary elections, the Council of Guardians determines candidates' eligibility. The Assembly elects the Supreme Leader and has the constitutional authority to remove the Supreme Leader from power at any time. The Assembly has never been known to challenge any of the Supreme Leader's decisions.
[edit] Political parties and elections
- The following election results include names of political parties. See for additional information about parties the List of political parties in Iran. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Iran.
| Candidates | Votes 1st round | % | Votes 2nd round | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani | 6,211,937 | 21.13 | 10,046,701 | 35.93 |
| Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 5,711,696 | 19.43 | 17,284,782 | 61.69 |
| Mehdi Karroubi | 5,070,114 | 17.24 | - | - |
| Mostafa Moeen | 4,095,827 | 13.93 | - | - |
| Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | 4,083,951 | 13.89 | - | - |
| Ali Larijani | 1,713,810 | 5.83 | - | - |
| Mohsen Mehralizadeh | 1,288,640 | 4.38 | - | - |
| Blank or invalid votes | 1,224,882 | 4.17 | 663,770 | 2.37 |
| Total (turnout 62.66% and 59.6%) | 29,400,857 | 100 | 27,959,253 | 100 |
- More info: Iranian presidential election, 2005
For the parliamentary elections of February 20, 2004, the Ministry of Interior Affairs announced a 50% turnout, the lowest in any general election since 1979. It was disputed by the Guardian Council, which claimed the result was closer to 60%. Conservative forces received 54% (156 seats), reformists received 14% of the vote (40 seats), and independents (34 seats); 60 seats were up for runoff election in May 2004. In the run-up to the election many reformist candidates, including about 80 members of the outgoing parliament, were disqualified by the Guardian Council; more than a 100 MPs protested by staging a sit-in in the parliament that lasted for about 3 weeks and ended to no avail. About 120 MPs then resigned and major reformist parties and groups stated they will not take part in the election but did not boycott it. The crisis resulted in a crack in the reformist front, when the Militant Clerics Assembly, of which President Khatami is a member, announced they will participate in the election.
| Orientiation of candidates | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservatives | 156 | ||
| Reformists | 39 | ||
| Independents | 31 | ||
| Elected in second round | 59 | ||
| Armenians recognized minority religion | 2 | ||
| Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic recognized minority religion | 1 | ||
| Jewish recognized minority religion | 1 | ||
| Zoroastrian recognized minority religion | 1 | ||
| Total (Turnout around 50 %) | 290 | ||
| Source: IPU | |||
More info can be found at Iranian Majlis election, 2004.
[edit] Political pressure groups and leaders
Active student groups include the pro-reform "Office for Strengthening Unity" and "the Union of Islamic Student Societies'; groups that generally support the Islamic Republic include Ansar-e Hizballah, The Iranian Islamic Students Association, Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, Islam's Students, and the Islamic Coalition Association; opposition groups include the Liberation Movement of Iran and the Nation of Iran party; armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by the government include Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), People's Fedayeen, Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan; the Society for the Defense of Freedom.
Iranian opposition groups have been severely repressed by the regime, an example being the Freedom party of iran that is now "forbidden". Exile parties however, are not controlled by the regime and are getting stronger and more recognised.
[edit] Military
The military is charged with defending Iran's borders, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (a.k.a. Sepah) is charged mainly with maintaining internal security.
[edit] Administrative divisions
Iran consists of 30 provinces (ostaan-haa, singular: ostan): Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshahan, North Khorasan, Khorasan, South Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qom, Qazvin, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan. The provinces are each headed by a governor general. The provinces are further divided into counties, districts, and villages.
[edit] Local government
Local councils are elected by public vote to 4-year terms in all cities and villages of Iran. According to article 7 Iran's Constitution, these local councils together with the Parliament are "decision-making and administrative organs of the State". This section of the constitution was not implemented until 1999 when the first local council elections were held across the country. Councils have many different responsibilities including electing mayors, supervising the activities of municipalities; studying the social, cultural, educational, health, economic, and welfare requirements of their constituencies; planning and coordinating national participation in the implementation of social, economic, constructive, cultural, educational and other welfare affairs.
[edit] International organization participation
CP, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO WFTU, WEF, WHO, WMO, WTO (observer)
[edit] Images
[edit] References
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[edit] See also
- Government of Iran
- U.S.-Iran relations
- Iranian Foreign Affairs
- Iran-Israel relations
- Iran-Contra Affair
- Iran-Iraq War
- Prime Minister of Iran
- Haghani Circle and Politics of Iran
- Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran
- Human rights in Iran
- 1988 Massacre of Iranian Prisoners
[edit] External links
- Iran Center for Strategic Studies
- Tehran International Studies and Research Institute
- The Network of iranian law in persian, english & french
- Constitutional law in french
- Iranian law in english
- Iranian law in french
- Iran Media Resourcesfa:سیاست در ایران
fr:Politique de l'Iran nl:Politiek in Iran pt:Política do Irão
