In addition, extra-constitutional vigilante groups tend to take justice into their own hands, striking against people they consider enemies of Islam. But the days of confusion and legal insecurity may be coming to an end, analysts says. A political movement to separate mosque and state has taken shape in the past few years and is likely to gain new momentum after Friday's elections if reformers take control of Iran's parliament. These elections could be crucial in determining whether Iran can be both Islamic and democratic and shed its authoritarian past. Since then, the arena of public debate in Iran has opened up to a wide range of topics.
People now debate the merits of a modern state ruled by ancient Islamic law.
The man who was most responsible for launching that discussion a few years ago was a philosopher called Abdulkarim Soroush. By claiming that the Koran is a text open to interpretation and that interpretations change in time, Soroush paved the way for criticism of Iran's conservative theocracy. Mohammed Khatami, a reformist cleric elected president of Iran in a landslide in 1997, campaigned with a copy of the constitution in hand and promised to create a society based on the rule of law. In the present system, political power is shared between a myriad of elected and appointed bodies. The president and parliament are elected by the people.