The vote, for the Parliament and Assembly of Experts, which appoints the supreme leader, was far from a referendum on current leaders, though.
Iranians instead had the option to vote for varying degrees of conservative and hard-line candidates, often competing only in their effusive praise for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Despite their Islamist declarations, many politicians in the Islamic Republic are not ideologues or revolutionaries, but technocrats or pragmatists who have gathered around Ayatollah Khamenei for proximity to his power.
Today’s Iran is held together by the octogenarian Ayatollah Khamenei and his authority.
A new Iran may be on the horizon, even if it’s not the Iran anti-regime protesters have hoped for.
Persons:
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, it’s
Organizations:
Experts
Locations:
Gaza, Islamic Republic, Iran