Paper
Paul Salem
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Source: Getty
In The Media
Ayatollah Khamenei and the Iranian Protests
The most serious development of the Iranian protests has been the challenges to Ayatollah Khamenei, which are unprecedented and open up new questions about the potential for real, significant constitutional change.
By Paul Salem
Published on Jan 8, 2010
Source: 938 Live
Paul Salem contends that the crisis in Iran “is large and serious, but the regime is also powerful and can sustain itself, so it’s hard to say if this crisis will lead to a fundamental change or a breakdown or whether it will just be an open-ended crisis for months and years to come.” As the protests continue, the opposition is widening its appeal, calling not only for addressing the charges of fraud in the June elections but also for wider issues, such as cultural and political freedoms.
The most serious development of these protests, however, has been the criticisms of Ayatollah Khamenei. These challenges to Khamenei “really breaks the sanctity, breaks the aura, of the Islamic state in an unprecedented way and throws open the question of demands for real constitutional change of the system, not just holding another election or changing the president.”
About the Author
Paul Salem
Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute
Paul Salem is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
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Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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