Word: khamenei
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...Tehran's streets in the aftermath of a disputed presidential election, Iranians - and the smart folks in Washington - know that Iran's presidency is not the seat of executive power. Unelected mullahs hold veto power over the decisions of the elected government, and their Supreme Leader, currently Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, must approve all political policies and make the key foreign policy and security decisions. No one can run for president without the approval of the clerics, and they routinely narrow the field to those deemed acceptable within the parameters of the Islamic Revolution...
Still, the presidency is far from unimportant. It is a critical part of the "managed democracy" that the ruling clerics have used to govern Iran for the last three decades. Khamenei himself is a former President. The job is important enough to have brought millions of Iranians to the polls on Friday, and thousands into the streets afterwards - both supporters of the apparent loser, reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and members of the radical volunteer paramilitary forces who support the reelected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (See pictures of Iran's controversial and violent election...
...merchant, Mousavi, 67, was born in Khameneh, in northwestern Iran - also the hometown of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to a relative, Mousavi is the grandson of Khamenei's paternal aunt...
...President, Mousavi wouldn't have nearly the power that the Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, does, especially in the areas of foreign and national-security policy. But he did express a belief that the remarkable street demonstrations of the past week would basically change the nature of the power structure - in effect, forcing the Supreme Leader to pay more attention to public opinion. We asked what would happen if he lost. "Change has already started," he said. "Only part of this change is about winning in the elections. The other part will continue, and there is no going back...
...think the reformists went too far and did not respect this balance? Khatami's rule came to an end after eight years, but if he had stayed in government, who knows, maybe that balance between the [Supreme] Leader [Ayatullah Ali Khamenei] and other powers would have eventually been reached. But we have a particular system of division of powers in Iran. The Leader has certain powers, and the President has other powers, and balance between these powers is possible...