Iran: Losing Faith in the Ayatollahs

Iranians, even religiously conservative Iranians, are losing patience with mullahs who run their nation. Liberal Iranians are upset with the constraints on their lives. Conservative Iranians think that the mullahs are more interested in power than piety. Everyone, it seems, is looking for change in the coming election.

The Guardian reports:

Of the credible candidates, the strong favourite to succeed the outgoing reformist president, Mohammed Khatami, is Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who held the office between 1989 and 1997. Mr Rafsanjani is campaigning as a pragmatist who can bridge the chasm between liberal reformers allied to Mr Khatami and religious hardliners. His supporters also say he can improve Iran's international standing, particularly its relations with America.

"I don't think anyone will vote for Rafsanjani," said Ali, 38, another textile trader in the bazaar. "During his first presidency, there was widespread poverty and his performance was weak. The only people who will vote in this election are those government employees who need the election stamp on their documents to keep their jobs. The bazaar is still religiously and politically conservative, but our souls have been killed. All we have heard is lies."

Technically, Iran is relatively democratic — more so than most Muslims nations in the Middle East. The fact that they have also remained theocratic is a sign of how democratic voting and theocratic restrictions can co-exist, something that the Bush administration doesn't seem to have contemplated before attempting to turn Iraq into a democracy. It will be interesting to see what happens with Iran in the coming months...

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