Opinion  Smadar Perry
Why Khamenei prefers sanctions over an agreement
Smadar Perry
Published: 12.04.15, 23:45
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1. Misreading Iran
Fahd aljaji ,   Riyadh , S. Arabia   (04.13.15)
I am not sure your article is correct on several grounds as follows : - It has been a conventional western long held belief that Iran is governed by the two camps , one very conservative and anti western and the other is pro western and democratic and anxious to embrace liberal economic regime. This view is in inaccurate since the RC rules as enshrined by the constitution on all key matters and appoint key functionaries of these organs of the government .The president is somewhere between an elected president with few powers and a prime minister to run the executive branch .  - There is bounds to be different opinions and emphasis for every decision  but to conflate that with unwarranted division is wrong and is  likely to lead to mistaken policy choices . - There are many divisive issues in the Iranian political system , for one the revolutionary guards  has grown in importance to the point of resisting any reforms while many in the elites are keenly aware of the danger of path dependency  and  corruption and especially public role in the economy and the well hidden difficulties in the crucial oil sector ( there are hints even by Rouhani and more emphatic ones by the oil minister ) .  Iran is still revolutionary state in some respects , one symptom is the fact  that the missionary  zeal is still operating . The Iranian elites know that the Sunni world is almost pacifist and chose evolutionary development path. What actually impelled them to accelerate their ambitious missionary zeal is the US emasculation of Iraq , and then to add insult to injury to negotiate its fate with the Iranians .  - Iran is partly " run " on the psychological dimension of how it sees it self in the region , the Persians , not necessarily the Iranians have an over reaching  hubris ,  and that is why partly the see in Israel and Turkey competitors  in the regional hegemonic policies . The uneasy mix between the ideological component and the nationalistic is widely underestimated by many in the west . - The pressure in Iran is high at many fronts , for one , the revolution failed to deliver the goods especially since the Persian culture is materialist of not out right hedonistic for ages . for second , the unease between the nationalistic and ideological is tempered by the demographic composition as the  ruling Persians are no more than 50% and at  mainly the central region ( notice certain articles  of the constitution  related to minorities rights are  still suspended until today ) . 
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