People in Iran keep on protesting. The population is suffering under the economic crisis, repression, and the growing restrictions on cultural freedom. Women in particular are systematically discriminated against and corruption is rife all the way up to the highest political levels. In the Islamic Republic, parliament and president are elected by the people but can ordinary Iranians really influence their country's politics? Iran's constitution is based on two foundations, a Republican one and a religious one. The head of state is a Shiite cleric known as supreme leader of the Islamic revolution and appointed by an assembly of experts. Parliament and president are elected by the people. This creates tension between the absolute sovereignty of God and the democratic will of the people. The current supreme leader Ali Homeni in office since 1989 not only decides all political issues, he also controls the military, judiciary, guardian council and state media and he can directly intervene in the work of government and the judiciary. He's also the head of the 125,000 strong revolutionary guard which in turn controls a paramilitary contingent of about 1 million volunteers. Since its inception in 1979, the revolutionary guard has been competing with the regular army and has gained more and more political influence in the last few years. This gradually undermines the elected parliament. Parliamentarians vote on the budget and pass laws. But all of parliament's decisions are vetted by the guardian council to ensure they are constitutional and conform to the rules of Islam. Ultimately all political decisions are dominated by military security issues. According to the constitution, the elected president is second in power to the supreme leader but his capacity to act is restricted as it depends on conformity with the supreme leader's interests. Clearly Iran's parliament and president are subject to a huge amount of power from religious revolutionary institutions. However, it's still important to the people of Iran to claim their rights. So far, elections have been an opportunity for the Iranian people to express their will. More information on politics in Iran can be found on our website.