Iran’s system of government combines elements of theocracy and democracy. The supreme leader is the most powerful religious and political authority, who stands above all elected officials and has no fixed term of office. However, there are also elected officials and institutions such as the president and parliament.
By iL Giornale
Iran’s government has moved swiftly to replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, its second-in-command, a role created after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Overnight, news broke that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, had been chosen to replace him. Here’s everything you need to know about the significance of the appointment and why it matters in Iran’s complicated political system:
WHO RULES IRAN?
Iran’s system of government combines elements of theocracy and democracy. The Supreme Leader is the most powerful religious and political authority, who stands above all elected officials and has no fixed term of office. However, there are also elected officials and institutions such as the president and parliament.
WHAT ARE THE COMPETENCIES OF THE SUPREME LEADER?
The supreme leader’s authority is broad and comprehensive: They maintain the integrity of the Islamic Revolution; They set the “parameters” for day-to-day politics and oversee the implementation of general state policies; They command the armed forces and declare war and peace; They appoint key officials such as the heads of the judiciary, state media, the army, and half of the members of the Guardian Council, which considers and evaluates candidates for elected positions.
WHO APPOINTED THE SUPREME LEADER?
The Supreme Leader was elected by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 Islamic clerics elected by the Iranian public. It also, on paper, oversees and dismisses the Supreme Leader, although this has never happened. Candidates are vetted by the Guardian Council, whose members are in turn appointed in part by the Supreme Leader.
DOES THE PRESIDENT MATTER?
The president handles the day-to-day affairs of government, represents the country internationally, and is nominally independent of the supreme leader. The president is elected by the public in direct elections. But in recent years, the Guards Council has dismissed many candidates considered relatively moderate, and there have been allegations of vote rigging.
SECRET EMPIRE IN LONDON!
An investigation published by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera sheds light on a network of luxury properties linked to the Iranian leadership family in London, which according to suspicions may have also been used for espionage purposes. The article focuses on the assets of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the way they were acquired through networks of intermediaries and offshore companies. According to the report, Mojtaba Khamenei controls a property portfolio in the British capital worth around 250 million euros. These include 11 luxury villas in the Hampstead neighborhood, a very exclusive area of London known as the “Billionaires’ Road”, as well as two luxury apartments near the royal residence Kensington Palace, where Prince William and Kate Middleton live.
But what has raised the most concerns among intelligence services is the fact that these two apartments are located less than 50 meters from the Israeli embassy in London.
According to a Bloomberg investigation, they were purchased between 2014 and 2016 with funds allegedly derived from Iranian oil revenues obtained by circumventing international sanctions. Officially, the properties are registered in the name of Ali Ansari, an Iranian oligarch and close friend of the Khamenei family, who is suspected of acting as a “figurehead owner” for the transactions. The two apartments near Kensington Palace are now valued at around €60 million. They were purchased shortly after 11 villas in Hampstead were also purchased in 2013 through a shell company registered in the Isle of Man. The ultimate beneficiary of the company was Ali Ansari himself. The British government has frozen these properties after Ansari was placed under sanctions on suspicion of financing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.