Originally written : September 19, 2022
By Abigail Pereira
Overview of Iranian Government:
Currently, Iran is under the control of Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who heads the armed forces and is responsible for Iran’s domestic and foreign policies. The Supreme Leader chooses six of the twelve jurists in the Council of Guardians and has over two thousand representatives throughout all areas of the government who can intervene on behalf of Khamenei. He is also in charge of the Supreme National Security Council and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
The current president, Ebrahim Raisi, is in charge of Iran’s economic policies and the second highest ranking official in Iranian government. He has eight vice presidents and a cabinet of twenty-two ministers. Parliament confirms this Council of Ministers.
Iranian Parliament is a single-body legislature that approves the country’s budget, ratifies treaties with other nations, and drafts legislation. However, the Council of Guardians must verify that decisions made by Parliament agree with Islamic law. Its two hundred ninety members are elected every four years by the public.
The Assembly of Experts consists of eighty-six clerics elected every eight years. They meet for one week every year to advise, dismiss, or elect the new Supreme Leader; they usually elect the new Supreme Leader from within their ranks. They have never been known to publicly disagree with the Supreme Leader’s decisions.
The Council of Guardians comprises of six jurists instated by the Supreme Leader, and six other jurists instated by the head of the judiciary branch, all of whom are officially appointed by Parliament. The Council of Guardians revises Parliamentary laws and verifies that they agree with Islamic Law; if the laws do not agree with Islamic law, they are sent back to Parliament for revision. The Council of Guardians also judge the fitness of presidential and parliamentary candidates.
The Expediency Council was created to mediate disputes between the Council of Guardians and Parliament. Now, its thirty four members serve as the advisory for the Supreme Leader.
The Judiciary is the branch of government that deals with criminal and civil cases in public courts and more serious offenses in revolutionary courts. The Supreme Clerical Court, which judges misdemeanors of clerics, is accountable only to the Supreme Leader. Decisions made in both revolutionary and clerical courts are final. The head of the judiciary branch is appointed by the Supreme Leader. In turn, the head of the judiciary branch elects the chief prosecutor and head of Supreme Court.
Iran’s National Security and Intelligence includes the Supreme National Security Council, the regular army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Cops, and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security. These Iranian armed forces are not under the control of the executive branch. They are the only states that do this.
The Issue at Hand:
Within law enforcement of Iran’s National Security and Intelligence is a group called the Guard police, or the “modesty police.” Their job is to enforce dress code according to Islamic law. Recently, public uproar was caused over the death surrounding an Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini who was taken to a police station for “re-education” on how to properly wear a hijab. According to police and CCTV - in which the woman shown as Amini cannot be verified to actually be Amini - Amini suffered a stroke and had to be taken to the hospital where she later died in a coma. It is believed that Amini was actually beaten to death, indicated by fractures to her skull as well as brain damage, and the fact that she had no pre-existing heart conditions.
Hundreds have taken to the streets to protest her death and the Guard Police, but have been met with violent police lash backs which have killed five protesters as of yet. Activists are often imprisoned for long periods of time. Women who fail to follow the dress code are often fined, imprisoned, or publicly rebuked. Many Iranian women have taken to social media to proclaim their fears to even go to the market given the current circumstances.
Citations
“Inside Iran - the Structure of Power in Iran | Terror and Tehran | Frontline.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/inside/govt.html.
Pourahmadi, Adam, and Jonny Hallam. “Woman, 22, Dies after Falling into Coma While in Custody of Iran's Morality Police.” CNN. Cable News Network, September 17, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/16/middleeast/iranian-woman-dies-police-intl/index.html.
Siba Jackson, news reporter. “Iran: Five Killed in Protests over Death of Mahsa Amini Who Was Detained for Allegedly Violating Iran's Hijab Rules.” Sky News. Sky, September 19, 2022. https://news.sky.com/story/iran-four-killed-in-protests-over-death-of-mahsa-amini-who-was-detained-for-allegedly-violating-irans-hijab-rules-12701691.
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