Quest for Authority: The Presidency and its Standing in the Islamic Republic

Speaker: Siavush Randjbar-Daemi, University of Manchester Chair: Ali Ansari, University of St Andrews Siavush Randjbar-Daemi discusses the origins and development of the presidential institution in the Islamic Republic from the 1979 Iranian Revolution to the present day. He provides an overview of both the possibilities and limitations that each president has faced whilst in power and reflects on whether the present-day Islamic Republic, now approaching its fourth decade of existence, can be defined according to the Western canons concerning state systems. Recorded on 31 January 2017.