Academic Calls for Khamenei to Rule or Defer to the President

In a recent interview posted on the centrist Namayesh YouTube channel, Ali Mashayekhi, professor emeritus at Sharif University of Technology, urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to either consolidate authority by assuming direct control over the executive branch of government or delegate genuine power to the president, thereby enabling more coherent governance. Mashayekhi’s proposal underscores widespread frustrations with the structural accountability deficits embedded in the regime. The political system’s dual power structure – where elected officials and Khamenei, along with his unelected appointees, frequently undermine one another – has engendered policy paralysis and mutual recrimination. However, Mashayekhi’s expectations for reform may be misplaced, as this unaccountability is not a design flaw but an inherent feature of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

• January 11: Ali Mashayekhi, discussing structural impediments to Iran’s development, said in a video on the Namayesh YouTube channel: “We have a leader who is extremely powerful. The leader coordinates and makes the final decisions. But we also have a Cabinet with members who may have ideas that conflict with the leader’s thinking, creating potential conflicts. To address this, numerous councils have been established to ensure that the Cabinet’s decisions align with the leader’s thinking. For instance, we supposedly have 100 Supreme Councils. While decisions are made by the Cabinet, what role do these councils play? The decision-making structure is dysfunctional. The authority is fragmented among competing institutions, preventing decisive action. This impedes the Cabinet’s ability to move forward. Many members of these councils are appointed by the leader, not elected officials. How can we make effective decisions in such an environment? How can we ensure accountability? This is wrong. In this political structure, I wish the leader had executive responsibilities, so the country could move forward. But that is not the case. Authority must be transferred to the executive branch – the Cabinet – so they can be held accountable. If the legislative and judicial branches were elected based on popular vote, the possibility of alignment among the three branches would be higher.” 

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