Opinion: Two Men Who Frighten the Supreme Guide

It is easy to dismiss the presidential election in Iran as a charade. The exercise is flawed from the start because of the pre-selection of candidates. It is further undermined by the fact that the process is conducted from start to the finish by the government rather than an independent commission, as is the case in countries where genuine elections take place. More importantly, perhaps, the man elected could not be regarded as a president as is the case in France or Indonesia, to cite just two...

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Opinion: Tehran Nervous as Election Process Starts

On Tuesday, Iran’s presidential election was kick started, with would-be candidates beginning to register at the start of a 40-day sprint to polling day. By all accounts, the Tehran leadership is nervous about the whole exercise. On the eve of registration, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave a curtain-raising speech, urging the people to “create a historic epic.” Reading between the lines, Khamenei is calling for a massive turnout, bigger than in 2009, to show that the regime maintains m...

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