The Struggle for Reform in Iran

Since the election of the reformist President Muhammad Khatami in 1997, the conflict between the reformers and the religious conservatives has intensified. The reformers command the majority in the city councils and, more importantly, in parliament, but they have been unable to carry through their proclaimed agenda for social and political reforms. This is mostly because the conservatives, who control most of the institutions of power like the army, the security forces, and the judiciary, have blocked the reforms. They have banned most of the pro-reform newspapers, jailed newspaper editors, journalists, and secular intellectuals. They have even harassed and jailed parliamentarians. Khatami's government, however, has succeeded in improving Iran's relations with the West, Russia, China, and the Persian Gulf states. In Iran a central issue is how to increase the constitutional powers of the popularly elected president and curb the almost unlimited authority of the non-elected supreme leader.