The Supreme Leader And The Authority Of The State

Again, this is similar to the U.S. Laws are made by the legislative branch and executed by police and other

Various factors influenced the 1979 Iranian revolution, but at the core of this significant event was Islamic fundamentalism. The Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, led this movement to end the thirty-seven-year reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, also known as the Shah of Iran (Diller 1991, p.152). The revolution was a combination of mounting social, economic, political and religious strains. The nation of Iran was never colonized, unlike some of its bordering countries, making its people intolerant of external influences. The Shah had gradually westernized and secularized his country, creating a strong American presence that was being felt

The State Council is represented by the premier who is “Head of the government” CIA, vice-premiers, State councilors, ministers in charge of ministries and commissions, the auditor-general and the secretary-general.

With the shah still sick, it was hard to manage what was back in Iran. The speed of change in Iran was too hard to get command. “The shah was in trouble, reaping the harvest of years of brutal and unpopular policies, including the use of secret police that controlled dissent with arbitrary arrests and torture.” It was obvious that the shah had lost all control of his people of Iran, but the president had hoped for an alliance of opponents to be formed. A man

The complexity of America’s relationship with Iran increased steadily beginning in 1908, when Iran struck oil. The Shah, the king or emperor of Iran, after taking the place of his young predecessor Reza Shah Pahlavi with the help of the CIA, led Iran into a period of extreme wealth and prosperity, the likes of which the Iranian people had never experienced. However, with the growth of wealth in Iran came the growth of Iranian resentment towards the West, specifically the United States. The Iranian’s resented the uneven distribution of wealth that they felt existed and the United State’s influence in “westernizing” their society. In 1963, this growing hatred led to a conflict with the Islamic clergy. The conflict was quickly settled by the Shah, but he was unaware that this dispute was the beginning

1. Congress (has taken the name “The People's Assembly”). This assembly consists of one year elected politicians based on population (one seat for every one million residents) in the right side (546 seats). On the left side of the building, each province gets a set of twenty-five three year seats to balance out the power (100 total seats). There is no limit on how many times one can serve in the Assembly. The assembly has the ability to impeach Freedom Judges and approves the Free Court judge nominations. The assembly also controls the government's budget, can impeach the president, and can override the president's vetoes with a ⅔

Shi’ite Islam was, and still is, the prominent ideology for Iran’s citizens, and its deep history suggests how their government should be run differently from that of the Shah. Shi’ite Islam places the legitimacy of power on the Imam, totally independent of state (Elwell-Sutton, 393). The religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini should take charge of the country instead of the Shah because Khomeini’s authority would be based off of religion. Shi’ite thinking says that religious power (true justice) will always be in conflict with the

However with all the power that the President possesses there are also many limits set on him, including the length of time he is allowed to hold his job. However the President who runs the entire country, is appointed by the states.

The [Bush] administration found it consistently difficult to get the measure of Tehran. Bush depicted it as a “nation held hostage by a small clerical elite that is repressing and isolating its people,” but the reality was far more complex. (482)

Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was one that was based upon secular ideals. After the Iranian Revolution, revolutionary Shi’a Islam started to have a large

The Iranian Regime has been under scrutiny for human rights violations in the recent past. In 2009, Iran had an election, quelling much question of it being an Authoritarian regime. In Iran, “a handful of candidates approved by clerics who are not elected but rather appointed”( Rubin, Habib The Green Revolution in Iran:2012) are the only choices the public has. These candidates have to be approved based on their religious qualifications, and their views. A candidate that is too much of a reformist will not be approved. The 2009 election was between Mir Houssein Mousavi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavi was a reformist candidate. He supported changing

Just like in America, the president’s term is 4 years long and they can serve up to two consecutive terms. They are considered to be the head of the executive branch of power. This does not mean that they have the liberty to do as they please. Their powers are controlled and have limits which are made by clerics. Iran has a supreme leader and this person controls all aspects from the armed forces to major foreign policy issues. The supreme leader makes decisions on security and also on defense. Parliament is also a part of their leadership system. For example, the president gets to choose their cabinet but the parliament has to approve. The parliament has the power to impeach prime ministers, also known as

As Michael Axworthy states on the back cover of his book, A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind, Iran is a “land of contradictions”. As this is true these contradictions is what makes Iran, Iran. Iran today is looked as the pinnacle of the Islamic faith in the form of a Government structure. Since 1979, Iran has been known as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran will continue being an Islamic Republic for centuries to come. Iran has a rich history of intellectuals and scholars. Iran is known for its vibrant culture that dates back longer than the Western Ideals were even conceived. However Axworthy asks a question about Iran and its impact on the world’s history and the current events that we see in Iran today, Axworthy asks “Is Iran an aggressive power, or a victim?” This statement is a true paradox, can Iran be the next Nazi Germany, the next Soviet Union or the next Great Islamic Caliphate or is Iran just fighting to keep its culture alive from a vast array of attacks from foreign entities and internal struggles.

Iran has always, it seems, been the breeding ground for some kind of political upheaval or another. In recent times, back in 1979, there was a major revolution which was, in some ways, similar to the revolution we are seeing today. The people were angry and they were tired of being controlled by the government that was in power. They had concrete ideals and were incredibly passionate about their revolution. The revolution Iran is experiencing today does not appear to be quite as passionate and does not appear to maintain a belief in any real solid political system. They just know they want something different. In the following paper we present an illustration of the current revolution that is taking

The head of state is the federal president; the post is purely ceremonial and rotates annually among the members of the Federal Council.