Foreign Correspondence

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Key players in Iran’s disputed election
Bureau News .. June 17th, 2009

SUPREME LEADER AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI: Wields control over every major decision either directly or through network of hand-picked loyalists and institutions, including the powerful Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary and intelligence services. Khamenei, 70, succeeded the father of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after his death in 1989. Before Khomeini died, he made it known that he wanted Khamenei to succeed him as religious leader.

GUARDIAN COUNCIL: Group of 12 experts in Islamic law who approve all candidates for high elected office, certify election results and can veto parliamentary bills considered in violation of Iran’s Islamic constitution. The supreme leader directly picks six council members and has effective veto-power over six other members selected by parliament.

ASSEMBLY OF EXPERTS: A body of 86 clerics elected by direct public vote given the role of overseeing the supreme leader’s performance. But the assembly’s main job is to select a successor after his death.

REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS: An elite military corps of more than 200,000 members that is independent of the regular armed forces and controlled directly by the supreme leader. The Guards oversee vital interests such as oil and natural gas installations and the nation’s missile arsenal.

BASIJ: A powerful volunteer militia directed by the Revolutionary Guards. Basiji played a high-profile role as “morality” police after the Islamic Revolution and now are often used in crackdowns of dissidents. Some estimates place the membership at 10 million, or about 15 percent of the population.

PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD: Officially the second-highest ranking official in Iran, but answers to the supreme leader on all major initiatives. Ahmadinejad, a 53-year-old hard-liner and former Tehran mayor, was first elected in June 2005 to a four-year term and was the reported winner in the June 12 vote. The president helps direct economic policies, domestic social programs, education plans and some public works. The president also has some voice in the level of freedoms such as media and political openness, but can be overruled by the ruling clerics using the judiciary or Revolutionary Guard. The president represents Iran in many high-profile international forums and talks, but the ruling clerics set all important foreign and defense policies.

REFORMISTS: Iranians who favor more social freedoms and improved ties with the West. The group, which has a significant number of young people, has rallied around Mir Hossein Mousavi, the pro-reform candidate who claims to have won the June 12 election over Ahmadinejad.

MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAVI: Served as Iran’s last prime minister from 1981 to 1989, when the post was eliminated. Before entering the presidential race, the 67-year-old was widely identified with his leadership role during the hardships and bloodshed of the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

MOHAMMAD KHATAMI: A former reform-minded president who has also alleged vote fraud in the June 12 election. Khatami’s landslide victory in 1997 defeated hard-liners who had ruled since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The 65-year-old was credited with relaxing some rigid restrictions on cultural and social activities before left office in 2005, but hard-line clerics stifled bulk of his reform program.

HASHEMI RAFSANJANI: Powerful former president and rival of the supreme leader who has alleged vote fraud in the June 12 election. Rafsanjani, 74, is currently head of the Assembly of Experts and another powerful unelected council. He is conservative but also seen as pragmatic, often willing to cut deals with other factions.

http://blog.taragana.com/n/key-players-in-irans-disputed-election-84833/