In a major breakthrough, Iran and the P+1
agreed, on 15 July 2015, on a comprehensive nuclear deal, which is designed to halt
advancements in Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting economic
sanctions and bringing Iran back into the global political and economic
mainstream.
P+1 represents six of the
world’s most powerful nations – Britain, China, France, Russia, the United
States (permanent members of the UN Security Council) and Germany.
The original name of the
nuclear deal is ‘Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)’. The official document
detailing the JCPOA uses E3/EU+3 (China,
France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United
States) to describe the negotiating parties that sat at the table with the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
In a
multi-part explainer series, I will focus on this landmark nuclear deal. In the
first part of this Explainer on Iran, I will focus on the Iranian political
system.
Brief Backgrounder on Iranian Political System
Iran, the world’s largest Shia Muslim
nation, is a powerful force in the Middle East. Iran has the world’s fourth
largest reserves of oil and second largest reserves of gas, which make it a
formidable power in the global energy market. In a world that is ever thirsty
for energy, Iran
is often seen as a force with a huge bargaining power.
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| Iran and its Neighbourhood |
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| Ayatollah Ali Khamenei |
Iran, which sees itself as a regional
superpower, aims to become the voice of the highly divisive Islamic world, a
status that is now claimed, for all practical purposes, by Saudi Arabia.
In 1979, Iran witnessed an Islamic
Revolution, which ousted the pro-West monarchy. The Islamic Revolution brought
the clergy to power, which used all possible administrative means to purge the
country of pro-West elements.
Even for an Islamic country, Iran has a
highly complex and deeply hierarchical political governance system. The system
combines Islamic theocracy with democracy. The State’s Supreme Leader is the
Ayatollah, who is appointed by an elected body. For all practical purposes, the
Supreme Leader is accountable to none.
With a Clerical Administration in power, the system is
peopled in large numbers by ultra-orthodox religious hardliners. In a
closely-knit system such as the Iranian Clerical polity, it is important to
populate it with the ‘right’ kind of people – people who are loyal to the
Supreme Leader and the ‘political and religious beliefs’ that define the State.
To this end, the polity is peopled in large numbers by
ultra-orthodox religious hardliners. Religion plays a dominant role in the way
the country is governed; in fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that
religion colours everything about the behavior of the Iranian State
– towards its citizens and towards the international community.
It is also true that the ultra-conservative Clerical
regime is torn by various factions, which are pulling in different directions.
The heroes of the Islamic Revolution still control all the key institutions of
the State machinery. The hardliners control the judiciary, while the Council of
Guardians is the watchdog of the country’s constitution. The hardliners also
rule the roost when it comes to controlling other powerful institutions like
the Revolutionary Guards and the Ansar-e-Hezbollah (a sort of Islamic vigilante).
When it comes to domestic affairs, the Clerical
administration, dominated by hardliners, uses violence, intimidation, arbitrary
detention, and extreme religious laws to silence the voice of its political
opponents. In simple words, a once-liberal Iran has now become a laboratory in
which the State uses draconian laws to circumvent any kind of dissent against
its gross acts.
Since 1979, the Iranian Clerical regime has exhorted
the ordinary Iranians against the United States, who it calls “The
Great Satan”. In fact, the post-Revolution generation of Iranians, also called
the War Generation (born during the 1980-88 war between Iran and Iraq)
displays a marked resentment toward the U.S. for its alleged duplicity.
They accuse the U.S. of
having turned a Nelson’s Eye when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used chemical
and biological weapons against Iran
during the eight-year war.
Tomorrow: A Brief History of Sanctions in The Iran Explainer: History of Sanctions.
