[PAA-Discuss] on the Iranian system of government

[Lee Loe]

1- In Iran after the Revolution, they formed a Republic and called it
Islamic Republic. When Kho - mei - ni was alive, he had the last word on all
the important decisions. They made him the supreme leader. After his death,
there was a vacuum. The second person in line was Montazeri who was against
Capitalists and very liberal compare to others. He got in a political fight
with Khomeini and was under the house arrest but has his own followers. So
Khomeini before his death made Kha - mene - i his successor. But in the eyes
of the average people nobody could replace Khomeini. They had to create this
system of governing to manage the faction fights between themselves. To
answer your question, President has some roles, but when it comes to the
hard decisions (like nuclear program and how to deal with the US), Khamenei
the current supreme leader would announce the final decision. But they have
their own internal fights and sometimes it leaks to the press (like over
here). In short, yes the supreme leader has the upper hand, and other
government figures fight to push their own agenda. In any case it is not
black and white and it is true the President is not able to go against the
supreme leader.
 
2- AYAT - OL - Lah is the highest position in shia sect. There are not many
Ayatollah in Iran. Khomeini was Ayatollah. Khamenei is Ayatollah. Ayat means
"sign" and as you know Allah means God. So Ayatollah means something like
the Sign of God!
 
In Farsi when you add the letter "i" to a name it makes it a family name.
Like Massoud (happy) when you add "i" at the end "Massoudi" becomes a Last
name. Khomein is a name of a small city and Ayatollah Khomeini came from
that city.
 
FYI: Ah - madi - ne - jad the current President is the 6th President after
the 1979 Iranian Revolution. He was elected by the poor working people.
After two years, his support is not as strong as before since he has not
delivered his promises (more jobs, lower cost of housing or food, etc.) The
last President was Khatami who was elected by the votes of the majority of
women and youth. He was a liberal clergyman! 
>From HPN's resident Iranian!
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