IRAN EMBROGLIO: PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

In 1989, Ayatollah Khamenei succeeded the original Supreme Leader and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini. Before that he was president for two successive terms from 1981-1989.When he was president he was often at odds with the then Prime Minister, Ali Hossein Mousavi, whom he perceived as being left-leaning. However, as Mr Mousavi had the backing of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, their conflicting views on economic, social and religious policies were left to fester. One of Ayatollah Khamenei's first decisions, when he became Supreme Leader on the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, was to revise the constitution to abolish the post of prime minister.

Ayatollah Khamenei is often described as lacking the charm and popular support of his predecessor. He brought to the position of Supreme Leader the powers and contacts he had made as president and has cemented his position by developing networks in the various institutions and security forces in Iran.



In 1997 he famously clashed with Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a respected scholar who ranks higher in the hierarchy. Ayatollah Montazeri, who is also one of Iran's leading dissidents, questioned the powers of the Supreme Leader. This led to the closure of his religious school, an attack on his office in Qom and to a period of house arrest.



In August 2000, he sided with the Guardian Council in rejecting a Majlis (parliament) bill reforming the country's press law. According to him the current law had prevented the "enemies of Islam" from taking over the press and any re-interpretation of the law was not in the interests of the country. That led to scuffles in the Majlis and to a debate on the powers of the Majlis and the Guardian Council. The press bill was withdrawn.



In his inaugural address as president in 1981, Ayatollah Khamenei vowed to stamp out "deviation, liberalism, and American-influenced leftists". That set the tone for his leadership. When pro-reform students rioted in June 2003, Ayatollah Khamenei was quick to warn that such actions would not be tolerated. And he blamed the US for stirring up the trouble. "Leaders do not have the right to have any pity whatsoever for the mercenaries of the enemy," he said
in a speech.



In 2009, when the President Obama offered Iran a "new beginning" of diplomatic engagement, Khamenei's response was muted. Addressing students a few days after the Iranian New Year message, he said he had seen no change in America's attitude or policy, singling out US support for Israel and sanctions against Iran. But he said that if President Obama altered the US position, Iran was prepared to follow suit.

Mir Hossein Moussavi

Mir Hossein Moussavi, the President of the Iranian Academy of Arts has not always been best known for his love of painting or poetry. Mr Mousavi was prime minister of Iran for eight years until the post was abolished in 1989. To describe him as a liberal as compared to Mr Ahmadinejad's would, however, be inaccurate. In 1988, the Economist called him a "firm radical".



like most Iranians in power, Mir Hossein Moussavi does not believe in the existence of Israel. He defended the taking of the American hostages in 1979. He was part of a regime that regularly executed dissidents. And as late as April 2009, he opposed suspending the country's nuclear-enrichment program but said it would not be diverted to weapons use.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

In 2003 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was an unknown entity when he became the Mayor of Tehran. He was not even that well known when he won the 2005 presidential election. The son of a blacksmith, he was born in 1956 in Garmsar, near Tehran, and holds a PhD in traffic and transport from Tehran's University of Science and Technology, where he was a lecturer.



Six of the 52 Americans who were held hostage in the US embassy in 1979 have accused Mr Ahmadinejad of being among those who captured them. He has denied his role in the episode. Several known hostage-takers - now his strong political opponents - also deny he was with them.



When he became mayor of Tehran in 2003, he curtailed many of the reforms put in place by his predecessors. Reformist President Mohammad Khatami had barred Mr Ahmadinejad from attending cabinet meetings, a privilege normally accorded to mayors of the capital.



He also repeatedly defended his country's nuclear programme, which worried the US and European Union. Once in power, he made a defiant speech at the UN on the nuclear issue and refused to back down on Tehran's decision to resume uranium conversion. He continued his defiance despite the reporting of Iran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council and the possible threat of sanctions. Powerful figures such as former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani say Mr Ahmadinejad's confrontational approach backfired when Iran was reported to the Security Council.



Mr Ahmadinejad has called for an end to the Israeli state and has described the Holocaust as a myth. In October 2005, Mr Ahmadinejad made a statement in which he envisaged the replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map", though this translation is disputed. During a speech at the UN in April 2009, he commented that Israel was a state founded on racist principles.




He also has a reputation for living a simple life and has campaigned against corruption.

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Born in 1934 to a family of farmers, he studied theology in the holy city of Qom with Ayatollah Khomeini. He was imprisoned several times under the Shah.



Mr Rafsanjani was speaker in the Majlis (Iran's parliament) from 1980-89. In the last year of the 1980-88 war with Iraq, Ayatollah Khomeini appointed him acting commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He is seen as the main mover behind Iran's acceptance of the UN Security Council resolution which ended the war.



Mr Rafsanjani was president for eight years from 1987 and ran again in 2005. He lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the second round. He has been openly critical of the president since then. He has condemned Mr Ahmadinejad's economic policies, accusing them of having seriously damaged Iran.



As President, Mr Rafsanjani sought to encourage a rapprochement with the West and re-establish Iran as a regional power. His influence in Lebanon helped to bring about the release of Western hostages there in the early 1990s. Domestically, he pursued an economically liberal policy that critics said failed to deliver on social justice.



However, he opposed harsh Islamic penal codes and promoted better job prospects for women. His financial policies aimed to move Iran from the state-controlled economy of the Iran-Iraq war years to a more market-based system.



On the nuclear issue, he was in favour of negotiation with the West, but "not to accept bullying and imposition". He favored using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.



He has close links to Iranian industry and business and is considered to be the richest man in Iran. He was featured in the Millionaire Mullahs section of the Forbes Rich List in 2003. He has been accused of amassing a personal fortune due to his political connections - allegations that he has always denied.



He was a prominent backer of Mr Mousavi in the 2009 presidential elections when he stood against President Ahmadinejad.

Mohammad Khatami

Seyed Mohammad Khatami, the fifth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was born in Ardakan, in the central Province of Yazd in 1943. Son of respected Ayatollah Ruhollah Khatami, President Khatami graduated with an MA in Tehran and returned to Qom to follow up on his philosophical studies at Qom Seminary.



He began his political activities at the Association of Muslim Students of Isfahan University, worked closely with Ayatollah Khomeini's late son, Hojjatoleslam Ahmad Khomeini.



After the revolution in 1979 he replaced Ayatollah Dr. Beheshti as Head of Hamburg Islamic Center in Germany.



He represented Ardakan and Meibod constituencies in the first term of Majlis [Parliament] in 1980. He was also appointed head of Kayhan newspaper institute by late Ayatollah Khomeini in 1981, a post he later resigned.



In 1982, he was appointed as the minister of culture and Islamic guidance during the premiership of Mir Hossein Mousavi. During the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, he served different responsibilities including deputy and head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces and chairman of the War Propaganda Headquarters.



He was once again appointed as the minister of culture and Islamic guidance by President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in 1989. Following his resignation in 1992, Khatami was appointed as cultural advisor to President Rafsanjani and head of Iran's National Library. In 1996 He was appointed as a member of High Council for Cultural Revolution.



He was elected as the fifth President of the Islamic Republic of Iran in May 1997 elections by gaining almost 70 percent of the votes cast. And he was re-elected as president in 2001 election by greater mandate of Iranian people (almost 78% of the vote cast).



Mr Khatami speaks English, German and Arabic in addition to Persian. He has written a number of books and articles in different fields.

Ali Larijani

Ali Larijani is a conservative and is a close follower of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who appointed him to the Security Council in 2004 for a three-year term. In 2005 he was appointed the council's head by the new President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who won an election in which Mr Larijani was also a candidate. But his openness towards negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme put him at odds with the president.



Ayatollah Khamenei had previously appointed Mr Larijani to head Iranian state radio and TV in 1994 - a post he held for 10 years. Before that, Mr Larijani served in President Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani's government as Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance. His appointment to head the Security Council, replacing moderate, pragmatic cleric Hassan Rouhani, was seen as a signal that Iran was preparing to harden its stance on the nuclear issue.



As radio and TV chief Mr Larijani tried to curb foreign cultural influence over young Iranians by cutting imported programmes from schedules. In January 2004 this led some 150 reformist MPs to criticise IRIB for causing Iranians to turn to the foreign media.



Mr Larijani in turn has accused reformists of undermining Islamic values. According to him, "If reforms are not undertaken for the sake of religion, justice and morality, they do not constitute reforms”. And he has blamed reformists for corruption and neglect of the economy.



Larijani is one of the two representatives of the Supreme Leader to the council, the other being Hassan Rowhani. In his post as secretary he effectively functioned as the top negotiator on issues of national security, including Iran's Nuclear Programme .He is the current Speaker of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament).

The Army

The Atresh or Islamic Republic of Iran Army is estimated to have 650,000 personnel (220,000 conscripts and 430,000 professionals) plus around 300,000 reservists for a total of 950,000. Conscripts serve for 18 months and have limited military training.



Iran has two parallel land forces with some integration at the command level: the regular Artesh (Army), and the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also known as Pasdaran (IRGC). The Pasdaran was created by the clerics as a counter to the Atresh with the objective of preserving their rule over Iran.