Goesta Groenroos
In the past, media coverage of elections in Iran has mostly been geared towards the process and the results giving the impression that the Islamic Republic was a kind of democracy. At last, the reality has paved its way to the head lines. The reality is that all elections in this country in fact are, and have been, cheap shams and masquerades put together by a few unelected clerics running the country in order to accomplish two objectives. First, to disarm growing demands by the Iranian people as well as the international community for establishing democratic rule in Iran. Second, to purge some unwanted elements in the internal power struggle. Therefore, no democratic minded person should use the term "parliamentary elections" for the attempts of the clerics to legitimize their never ending greed for power. In fact the real power has always remained firmly in the hands of the clerics, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Khomeini’s successor as the Supreme Leader.