ASSESSMENTS

Elections Won't Alter Iran's Strategy

Dec 11, 2019 | 11:00 GMT

This photo shows a woman voting in Iran's 2016 parliamentary elections.

A woman votes in Iran's 2016 parliamentary elections. Iran holds new elections in February 2020 but no matter the outcome, the political establishment will remain united on key economic and foreign policies.

(ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Highlights

Though Iranians will vote on a new parliament in February, as always, the country's legislative branch will not be making the most important economic and foreign policy decisions, but rather unelected bodies will.
The furious popular reaction to the recent fuel price hike has convinced all factions within Iran's political leadership that they must work together if the regime is to survive the current intense U.S. sanctions pressure.

Iran will hold parliamentary elections in February 2020 amid Washington's so-called maximum pressure campaign and associated sanctions. The initiative is wreaking havoc on all levels of Iran's economy and society, and the flagging health of the economy has become a major campaign issue for moderate and hard-line factions. But whatever new Iranian government emerges from the elections, the Supreme Council of Economic Coordination will continue to make the most important economic decisions just as the Supreme National Security Council will continue to make the most important national security decisions. In Iran's complicated political system, it is unelected institutions like these two -- not the executive branch or parliament -- that control the most important levers of power, helping guarantee regime continuity....

Keep Reading

Proceed to sign up

Already have an account?