ايران « ƆĪRĀN »
— Officially: جمهورى اسلامى ايران « Ĝumhūrī-e Ɔislāmī-e Ɔīrān ».
— Seat of government: تهران « Teherān ».
— Status: Not democratic.
— Structure: Government is headed by a رهبر « Rahbar » (ولى فقيه « Ŭalī Faqīh »), chosen for life (from the senior clerics) and theoretically supervised by the مجلس خبرگان رهبری « Maĝlis-e Xobregān-e Rahbarī »; all other bodies are effectively controlled by the رهبر « Rahbar ».
— Governing party: Senior clergy (since 1979).
— Head of government: على خامنه اى « Calī Xāmenehɔī », رهبر « Rahbar » (since 1989), assisted by ابراهیم رئیسی « Ɔibrāhīm Raỉīsī », president (since 2021).
— Conventional political parties: جامعه روحانیت مبارز « Ĝāmeceh-e Roŭhānīat-e Mobārez »; ائتلاف آبادگران ایران اسلامی « Ɔỉtlāf-e Ɔābādgarān-e Ɔīrān-e Ɔislāmī »; حزب اعتدال و توسعه « Hizb Ɔectedāl ŭa Toŭseceh »; جبهه مشارکت ایران اسلامی « Ĝabhah-e Mošārekat-e Ɔīrān-e Ɔislāmī »; مجمع روحانیون مبارز « Maĝmac-e Roŭhānīūn-e Mobārez ».
— Assessment: Elections have frequently taken place, but the appointed شورای نگهبان قانون اساسی « Šūrā-je Negahbān-e Qānūn-e Ɔasāsī » has used its power to skew elections in favor of religious conservatives. Parliamentary elections have typically seen reformist candidates disqualified en masse, leading to a conservative parliament. Reformist president محمد خاتمى « Muham:ad Xātamī » (1997-2005), whose election was more or less democratic, had limited political power and failed to augment it, leading to disillusionment among reformers; turnout failure led to the election of محمود احمدى نژاد « Mehmūd Ɔahmedī Nežād » (2005-13) in 2005. He was officially reelected in 2009, over reformist challenger میرحسین موسوی « Mīr-Husajn Mūsaŭī », though the high turnout rendered the result unbelievable, and it was rejected by the incumbent’s reformist opponents in the جنبش سبز « Ĝonbeš-e Sabz », an unsuccessful people-power protest. احمدى نژاد « Ɔahmedī Nežād », meanwhile, seemed to be building his power and that of the presidency, in rivalry with خامنه اى « Xāmenehɔī ». A 2013 election to succeed احمدى نژاد « Ɔahmedī Nežād » was allowed, presumably by the will of خامنه اى « Xāmenehɔī », to end with the election of moderate reformer حسن روحانی « Hasan Roŭhānī » (2013-21), but there was no significant liberalization of society during his presidency. In late 2017, widespread protests against the régime began, originally focusing on economic issues. In 2019, خامنه اى « Xāmenehɔī » ordered a crackdown in which perhaps 1500 protesters were killed, including hundreds of women and several children. A 2021 election to replace روحانی « Roŭhānī » saw many prominent candidates disqualified, and was heavily boycotted.
— FH: 6-6, not free. Econ: 2.83 (145), authoritarian.
— Updated: 2022 July 17.
O.T. FORD