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Source: http://www.inthenationalinterest.com/Articles/Vol3Issue4/Vol3Issue4Boms.html
Iranian Theocracy Incapable of Reform
(In the National Interest) Reza Bulorchi and Nir Boms - What you see is not always what you get when it comes to the Middle East, a region that has not yet begun the process of democratic change. What Iranians have seen from Khatami and his faction over the past seven years has been nothing more than just the rhetoric of reform. Iran's theocracy is based on a theory of government called Velayat-e faqih, or absolute clerical rule. The interpretation of what is or is not an "Islamic principle" falls within the authority of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his hand-picked Guardian Council. In Iran, elections serve as a veneer to mask a rigid theocracy. Under the current political structure, a metamorphosis of the Islamic Republic from within by the likes of Khatami is an impossible task and a "reformed" Velayat-e faqih system is a contradiction in terms. We need to see the clerical regime for what it really is: a theocracy, intrinsically and structurally incapable of reform. Reza Bulorchi is the Executive Director of the U.S Alliance for Democratic Iran. Nir Boms is a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.