This is John Batchelor. The Governance of Iran.

Conversation with my colleague Ben and Ben Taliblo, a senior fellow for the

Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, to understand that an election in Iran is about who is

permitted to run, who has power, and who is part of the succession struggles now underway

in Tehran, the Supreme Leader

aged and the succession struggle apparent between his son and

man named much debah and the president of Iran, the man who is known as the hanging judge, Raise.

However, there are all these other levers that you can push or not push depending on the factions.

And Benham does a wonderful job of explaining the succession struggle underway, the moduli

of parliament, 290 members, the Council of Experts, 88 members, and the

Guardian Council, 12 members, and then the Supreme Leader, his son, and the President of the

country.

Benham explains.

Here's Benham Bentelba, the Foundation for the Defense of democracies. In many, well, here's an easier way to understand it.

Supreme Leader Pinnacle, it's a position meant to be taken rather literally.

The Parliament is a body that you know allegedly kind of produces laws

that is actually also checked by the Guardian Council which just not only vets

people for any kind of electoral public

office in Iran, but also has a duty to monitor the Parliament to make sure that that which

the Parliament puts up, even this highly managed, highly choreographed system does not put

anything that is contrary to Sharia law. The Assembly of Experts has an altogether

different function. Their job is to monitor the performance of the current

...