benlehman

It's considerably more complicated than that. It is unlike Russia and Zimbabwe for the same reasons that Mainland China is unlike Russia and Zimbabwe: there are different types of non- and semi- democratic states. On top of that, the Iranian political system is incredibly complicated.

The people elect a parliament, a president, and an assembly of experts (who must all be islamic scholars.) The parliament and president work pretty much like in the US. The assembly of experts appoints -- and can impeach -- the supreme leader. The supreme leader appoints another body, the Expediency Council (also top religious scholars, often the same people as on the assembly). The Expediency Council exerts control over the political process in that they can review and vet candidates for election and also legislation under consideration before it comes up for a vote.

The separation of powers between the president / parliament and the supreme leader is vague, but in general the president / parliament have much more free reign in domestic (part. economic) affairs, and the supreme leader calls the shots internationally. Generally. But not always.

This separation of powers is made even more vague by the fact that Ahmedinijad, not the SL, has a huge amount of pull with the military, and political power often comes down to military control.

In this case, there was a big presidential election, between four candidates lawfully vetted by the Expediency Council. Someone in the government (presumably either someone from the religious branch or Ahmedinijad's faction) probably rigged the vote. This is a flagrant violation of Iran's constitution and political process. That's why people are protesting.

And, since they're getting shot for it, clearly someone in power cares about the outcome of the election.

yrs--
--Ben