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The politics of Iran takes place in the framework of an Islamic theocracy which was formed following the overthrow of Iran's millennia-long monarchy by the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution. Iran's system of government (nezam) has been described (by Juan José Linz in 2000) as combining "the ideological bent of totalitarianism with the limited pluralism of authoritarianism." It "holds regular elections in which candidates who advocate different policies and incumbents are frequently defeated", but scored lower than Saudi Arabia in the 2021 Democracy Index (combined by the Economist Intelligence Unit). The December 1979 constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, declares that Shia Islam is Iran's state religion (around 90–95% of Iranians associate themselves with the Shia branch of Islam), and it also combines elements of theocracy (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) with a presidential system. Like many Western democracies, Iran has a president and a parliament (Majles). Unlike other Western or Islamic governments, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is supervised by a supreme leader and an appointed & unelected Guardian Council which is made up of Islamic clerics, (in the case of the Guardian Council, half of its members are Islamic jurists). The Supreme Leader is the head of state (above the president), and he either has direct or indirect control of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as the military and the media, (according to Karim Sadjadpour). Iran's president, a parliament (or a Majlis), an Assembly of Experts (which elects the supreme leader), and local councils are all elected, but all candidates who run for these positions must be vetted by the Guardian Council (which disqualifies the overwhelming majority of the candidates) for their loyalty to the Islamic Republic's system of government. In 1998, the Guardian Council rejected Hadi Khamenei's candidacy for a seat in the Assembly of Experts for "insufficient theological qualifications". In addition, there are representatives elected from appointed organizations (usually under the Supreme Leader's control) to "protect the state's Islamic character". History and background 1979 Revolution In 1979, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown by an Islamic Revolution in Iran, replacing its millennia-old monarchy with a theocratic republic. Shortly after, the leader of the Revolution, a senior Islamic jurist named Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (also transliterated Khumaynî) successfully supported referendums to declare Iran an Islamic Republic (in March 1979), and to approve a constitution (December 1979) whereby "the Islamic government" would be "based upon wilayat al-faqih", (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist) "as proposed by Imam Khumaynî" (quoting the preamble of the constitution). The constitution (which was drafted by an assembly made up primarily by disciples of Khomeini), calls for a Vali-ye faqih (Guardian Islamic Jurist), to serve as the Supreme Leader of Iran, and for Islamic jurists to serve in other powerful institutions such as the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts. Establishment of guardianship of the jurist Guardianship of the Jurist is a concept in Twelver Shia Islamic law that holds that in the absence of (what Twelvers believe is) the religious and political leader of Islam—the "infallible Imam", (who Shi'a believe will reappear sometime before Judgement Day) -- righteous Shi'i jurists (faqīh), should administer "some" of the "religious and social affairs" of the Shi'i community. In its "absolute" form—the form advanced by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the basis of government in Islamic Republic of Iran—the state and society are ruled by an Islamic jurist. (Khomenini served as the Guardian Jurist Supreme Leader of Iran until his death in 1989. His successor, Ali Khamenei, is still ruling as of mid 2023.) In a 1970 book on the subject circulated to his network of supporters, Khomeini argued that since Islamic sharia law contains everything needed to rule a state (whether ancient or modern), and any other basis of governance will lead to injustice and sin. Thus Iran, the Muslim world and eventually the whole world, must be ruled according to sharia and the person who should rule according to sharia is an expert in that form of law. These Guardians the true holders of both religious and political authority, who must be obeyed as "an expression of obedience to God", and whose rule has "precedence over all secondary ordinances in Islam such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage." Post-revolutionary political conditions The early days of the revolutionary government were characterized by political tumult. In November 1979 the US embassy was seized and its occupants taken hostage and kept captive for 444 days because of support of the US government for the Shah (monarch) of Iran. The eight-year Iran–Iraq War killed hundreds of thousands and cost the country billions of dollars. By the early 1980s power struggles ended in leftists and nationalists eliminated from all governmental institutions, and the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters firmly in control. Iran's post-revolution challenges have included the imposition of economic sanctions and suspension of diplomatic relations with Iran by the United States because of the hostage crisis, political support to Iraq and other acts of terrorism that the U.S. government and some others have accused Iran of sponsoring. Emigration from Iran has cost the country millions of educated people including entrepreneurs, professionals, technicians, and skilled craftspeople and their capital. Poverty rose by nearly 45% in absolute terms during the first 6 years of the Iran-Iraq War, and according to the World Bank, by the time the war ended in 1988, per capita income was a little more than half of what it had been in 1976, shortly before the revolution. Human rights Background The alleged tyranny and brutality towards all opposition of the monarchy was one of the propaganda themes of the Islamic revolution, but the Islamic Republic has also not tolerated opposition to its system of government, since (as mentioned above) it believes disobedience to it is disobedience to God. In 1984, Iran's representative to the United Nations, Saʿid Rajaʾie-Khorassani, declared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be representing a "secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which did not "accord with the system of values recognized by the Islamic Republic of Iran" and whose provisions the IRI would "not hesitate to violate". In reply to international criticism of repression, Iranian officials loyal to the Supreme Leader deny wrongdoing, maintaining its human rights record is better than western countries who criticize its record. In 2004, Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, denied that there were any political prisoners in Iran, saying "Th.... Discover the Donya Lynne popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Donya Lynne books.