The Iranian event horizon is again painted by the prospect of a US or US-Israel war, even if postponed for some time now, thanks to the Riyadh-Islamabad deft diplomacy now and in the past. An understanding of the Iranian state and society is instructive for informed outcomes. Contemporary Iran has a unique, if battered, theocratic-republican system, imposed by a ruling clergy after the 1979 Revolution, over a diverse and complex society, where a sizeable number of people still cherish the secular liberalism under the erstwhile Shah, Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980). The recent history, ethnic mix and ongoing conflict surfacing now and then between the traditional Islamic values and globalised modernity, especially among the young, define Iran's social movements, cultural shifts and political authoritarianism.

The Iranian state is a hybrid mix of elected bodies (President, Parliament) and more powerful unelected clerical institutions, all subservient to the Supreme Leader (Rahbar). Its laws and governance are based upon Ja’fari Shia Islam. Iran’s mixed governance system is based upon the concept of velāyat-e faqīh, developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s first post-revolutionary leader. Khomeini’s method grants political leadership to the faqīh, or jurist, when there is no divinely inspired imam. Majles-e Khobregān (Assembly of Experts) chooses the Rahbar from among the qualified Shia clergy. The Leader then, using his extensive powers, appoints senior military and Revolutionary Guards (Pāsdārān-e Enqelāb) officers, judiciary and clerical members of the Council of Guardians (Shūrā-ye Negahbān). He sets the general direction of national policy, enjoying no limits on his term in office.

Tehran's centrally planned economy has taken a........

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