Iran - Andrew Burke [22]
The Nuclear Issue
Iran says it is developing a nuclear energy program as an alternative to fossil fuels. It says nuclear weapons are not part of the plan. But Iran’s refusal to declare the program for years, or to allow full or timely inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, has raised persistent doubts. For most Iranians, completing the nuclear fuel cycle is a matter of national pride, but few want the bomb. Iran sticks vehemently to its ‘peaceful purposes’ line. Why build a nuclear reactor and need another country to supply the fuel, it asks, when we can produce it ourselves? It’s hard to argue with that but if, after all the denials, Iran does produce a nuclear bomb, whatever little credibility the Iranian government retains in the international community will be gone.
Israel
Israel, and the Israeli role in the problems in Palestine, has been the subject of verbal attacks by Iranian leaders for 30 years. Throw in the nuclear fears and it becomes even more combustible. Ahmadinejad was reported as saying Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’. The translation of what he actually said in Farsi has been widely debated, but the message that went out was fairly clear: Iran wants to nuke Israel. Fortunately, about 99% of Iranians – and perhaps even Ahmadinejad himself – don’t want this at all; Snapshot.
‘State sponsor of terrorism’
Another old chestnut – Iran has long been accused of establishing and funding Palestinian ‘terror’ groups Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran has never admitted this, though the evidence is strong. Exactly how much influence Iran has over these groups is unknown, though that didn’t stop George Bush describing Iran as a ‘state sponsor of terror’ as he lumped it into the Axis of Evil.
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In early 2008 Majlis elections saw conservative candidates retain a clear majority after many Reformist candidates were barred from running. The most notable change was that supporters of President Ahmadinejad did badly, often being defeated by more pragmatic conservatives. Presidential elections are scheduled for May 2009. For more on Iran today, Snapshot.
Government
Iran’s system of government, the Islamic theocracy, is unique in the world. In effect, it is two parallel governments: one elected and comprised of the usual ministries and bureaucracies found in any country; and another that exists in the shadows, controlled largely by Islamic clerics, rarely reported about in the media and answerable only to the Supreme Leader – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since 1989.
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All Iranian men and women can vote after the age of 15.
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The ‘normal’ branch of government comprises a president and the Majlis, Iran’s parliament. The president is elected in a direct vote, as in the US. The 290-member Majlis is elected at a different time. Both serve four-year terms, with the president serving a maximum of two terms. Lower levels of government are a mix of elected – such as city mayor – and appointed officials.
The relationship between the president, his government and the Majlis is similar to that of the US President, his administration and the Senate. The president is head of government and can fill government posts from the level of minister right down to provincial positions. He can set and pursue policy, but does not always have the final say because he is not the head of state.
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For millennia Iran was called Persia. However, Reza Shah hated the name and in 1934 changed it to Iran – derived directly from Aryan (meaning ‘of noble origin’).
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That role belongs to the aptly-named Supreme Leader. Unlike constitutional monarchs or ceremonial heads-of-state, Iran’s Supreme Leader is supremely powerful, though the influence he chooses to exercise is seldom reported in the press.
He sits above the Guardian Council, a 12-man group that interprets the constitution and can veto any law passed by the Majlis. This was a power regularly exercised when the Reformists dominated the Majlis between