‌‌By: Hassan Mahmoudi

The Daily Caller, 02 May 2017 – Iran’s 12th presidential election was held on May 19, 2017, throughout the country. The incumbent Hassan Rouhani was “re-elected” amidst various cases of fraud, vote rigging and embarrassing measures to portray the polling stations as crowded. However, Iran’s president is subordinate to the supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s elections is far from free or fair. The president is first vetted as a candidate by a clerical panel called the Guardian Council, affiliated to the supreme leader.

The supreme leader stands at the apex of Iran’s complex political–religious dictatorship. He has veto power over all policies and ultimate control of the security forces. Iran’s supreme leader controls much of economy through 14 main entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Rouhani’s freedom of action in foreign policy is also heavily circumscribed by the Supreme Leader’s authority.

Iran’s 12th presidential election came at a critical time. The economy is deteriorated, inflation is, parallel to skyrocketing, unemployment, shortages, poverty, sleeping in graveyards, mine explosion incidents, skyscraper fire disasters, lack of free competition, the monopoly of the Supreme Leader and the IRGC, deterioration of human rights, and the high cost of military intervention in Syria. “The main concerns of business in Iran is around the issue of stability and peace,” said Masoud Khansary, head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce.