[amir734jj]

I'm an Iranian and this protest is very different because it's not about a specific government policy ... It's about the totality of the regime. Unfortunately, government has been following the same old brutal playbook by killing protesters and cutting off the Internet.

[FilosofumRex]

that would make it much more suspicious the protests are being orchestrated from outside by CIA/Mossad...

The "regime" is a republic with regularly held presidential (8 presidents in 45 years) and parliamentary elections. What would you like to replace it with? Monarchy

[perching_aix]

> The "regime" is a republic with regularly held presidential (8 presidents in 45 years) and parliamentary elections.

I'd think the regime thing refers to the Supreme Leader of 36 years and his Guardian Council, no?

[FilosofumRex]

so are kings of England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Netherlands & Arabia.

The Guardian Council is an elected body with the power to remove the so-called "Supreme Leader", so his power is limited too and is not hereditary, unlike monarchies of Europe and Asia

[perching_aix]

> so are kings of England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Netherlands & Arabia

The first six of which to my understanding are token roles, sometimes de jure, but definitely de facto. This is unlike the role of the Iranian Supreme Leader, who according to my findings is heavily involved and has the license to do so.

I don't know what country Arabia is supposed to be.

> The Guardian Council is an elected body with the power to remove the so-called "Supreme Leader", so his power is limited too

You know that I considered and checked for all of this ahead of time, right? These loopholes are very on the nose.

The Supreme Leader directly elects 6 of the Guardian Council members, but also the judiciary chief, who elects the other 6.

The Supreme Leader is elected and kept in position by the people-elected Assembly of Experts, the applications for which are... filtered through by the Guardian Council. And considering they have never exercised their authority to as much as condemn but especially to remove a Supreme Leader according to my search, it's a reasonable conclusion that either everything is magically harmonious over there, or this authority in practice is a token one too.

I have also looked into whether these bodies are partial, and not only is this true covertly, it is true openly. Candidates that don't fit the bill on any of these levels are proudly filtered out in droves.

I'm really quite unconvinced you're here to inform with honesty in mind.

[FilosofumRex]

> The first six of which to my understanding are token roles, sometimes de jure, but definitely de facto.

All European kings have the power to dismiss the elected prime ministers and are the nominal head of the armed forces. Iran "Supreme Leader" has never removed any elected presidents or members of parliament and has no authority over government expenditures or taxes, therefore is not responsible for mis-management of economy.

So those who call for his removal are not motivated by economic hardship but are politically motivated who can't win democratic elections

[perching_aix]

> All European kings have the power to dismiss the elected prime ministers

This is false. For Sweden, and Andorra this is both de jure and de facto wrong, for others, it is still de facto wrong. Did you even read the line you quoted?

In the UK, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, and Luxemburg, their monarchs do not dismiss the PM at will. They act on advice, and violating that norm would almost certainly force abdication or abolition. They are formally involved in appointing or dismissing a prime minister, but only within strict constitutional norms (loss of parliamentary confidence, resignation, elections). Acting unilaterally would trigger a constitutional crisis.

> and are the nominal head of the armed forces

This is once again false for Sweden and Andorra, and once again, only ceremonially (de jure) true for others, and wrong in practice (de facto false). Did you even read the line you quoted?

In contrast with all of this, the Supreme Leader of Iran:

- is a direct, actual commander-in-chief for Iran's armed forces, and is actively involved in its operations

- can directly dismiss some high officials and initiate the removal of others, and has complete if indirect control over who gets to run for their positions to begin with, and how a removal process would turn out

> Iran "Supreme Leader" has never removed any elected presidents or members of parliament

Your scare quoting of Supreme Leader is unjustified to the extent I can tell: checking in with language models, it is a correct and reasonable translation. Ironically, it might even be risky to do for someone in and from Iran, as it could get interpreted as criticizing him, which afaik is illegal and routinely punished.

This is further not a claim I made or even suggested: on the contrary, I laid it out through several paragraphs why and how the election of officials is manipulated at the source, rather than at the destination. Did you even read the comment you're responding to?

> has no authority over government expenditures or taxes, therefore is not responsible for mis-management of economy

Yes he does and is. Not only are large swaths of national economic activity, revenue streams, and spending functionally outside the ordinary budget process and under his control, he has supervisory authority that can shape fiscal policy indirectly through oversight powers. He also routinely sets "general policies" that are binding on the executive branch and influence budgeting priorities. Finally, which was the key point, he has influence over who can get elected into the various "people-elected" bodies that actually drive such policies and implement them. Did you even bother to understand the comment you're responding to?

> So those who call for his removal are not motivated by economic hardship but are politically motivated who can't win democratic elections

Nice opinion! I personally have no idea who's being blamed in these protests, didn't care to read up on it. The economic hardships of Iran are of no controversy to my understanding though, so I don't know why you would put that in question.

Regarding political struggle, to my understanding, most parties and people who would run don't even get to run in the first place (did you read what I wrote?). So it makes little sense to discuss the capability of them "winning" an election, when they can't even run on it. Unless you meant to suggest you think they're justified in triggering an uprising, but then I don't know why you'd be against the protests.

[amir734jj]

But the supreme leader elects the Guardian Council, and their memeber elect Assembly of Experts that elect the supreme leader :)

We have ChatGPT. We are not dumb. Stop the propaganda.

[FilosofumRex]

> But the supreme leader elects the Guardian Council No he doesn't... Half of are recommended by judiciary to be approved by Parliament, the other half are appointed by the supreme leader for six year term. This ensures all three branches of government have equal stakes. It's not unlike the House of Lords in England, half of whose members are appointed by the king or are hereditary.

The Assembly of Experts members are elected directly by the people every 8 years, and it operates independently of the Guardian Council once it's seated.

Who elects your king? Trump or Satanyahu

[amir734jj]

It's a circular logic. He elects people who elect him.

Again. I don't want a king. I want people not to die when they go protest. AM I ASKING TOO MUCH??

It seems like you are great at repeating propaganda points and don't actually live in Iran because otherwise you wouldn't have internet.

[perching_aix]

> The Assembly of Experts members are elected directly by the people every 8 years,

But who gets on the ballot is controlled by the Guardian Council. So it's like how you could get the first car Ford produced in any color, as long as that color was the color black.

Surely this is not new info to you?

> Who elects your king? Trump or Satanyahu

If you think this is a boxing or football match of some sort, please consult the forum guidelines. We're not here to beat each other (or you) down.

[amir734jj]

I would like people not to get killed when they protest

I would like the internet not to get shut down during the protest

Am I asking too much?

[FilosofumRex]

No, it's just exactly what CIA/Mossad are asking for, too - you're in good company

[amir734jj]

You think I am CIA/Mossad for asking people not to get killed when they protest? I expected HN community to be better. Shame.

[thomassmith65]

Can you blame us? We just want to protect you Persians from a constitutional monarchy /s