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The article discusses the importance of Qom, Iran, a religious center of the Shia Muslim world. Qom is the place from which the Ayatollah Khomeini launched his Iranian revolution in 1979. The article discusses Khomeini's belief in velayat-e faqih, a supposed mandate from God that applies to political power. The article discusses how the beliefs of Qom influence Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the current government of Iran.

The article discusses Iranian politics and how the outcomes of the Green Revolution have shaped 21st century Iranian politics. Topics include the political decision making process and origins of the Islamic Republic political system by Ayatollah Khomeini, the election of Iranian President Hassan Rohani, and the political allegiances of Green Revolution reformists.

The article discusses the power struggle between the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Claims of political corruption were made against Khamenei by former Iranian parliament staff member Abbas Palizdar. The article speculates about which leader has more control of Iran. The article also mentions that 2008 U.S. presidential candidate John McCain believes supreme authority of Iran is had by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

This article focuses on the political instability of Iran and the apathy of citizens toward an upcoming election which is known to be unfair. Twenty-five years after the revolution that saw Ayatollah Khomeini depose the shah amid scenes of mass euphoria, Iran is in a dismal mess--economic, diplomatic and political--and there is no obvious way out, short of the clerics stepping down and handing power to the people in a genuinely free and fair election. Though Iran still has 10% of the world's known oil reserves and more gas than any other country bar Russia, its GDP per head was 30% higher under the shah. Shocking events, such as the death in Iranian custody last year of a female Canadian-Iranian journalist after she was beaten up, continue to remind the world how dissidents can be hounded and tortured. Next week's poll puts the limits of Iran's highly qualified freedom into stark relief. Iran also continues to sponsor terrorism against Israel and, unlike the Arab countries, it has yet even to accept Israel's right to exist.

The article reports that since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, Iran's treatment of women has become a measure of its political climate. The position of women improved dramatically after the election of President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani in 1989. In the parliamentary election in May 1992, nine out often women voters supported candidates endorsed by the president. Lately, however, Rafsanjani's failure to revive the economy, his need to win influential friends and his rift with the country's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have stopped the improvement in its tracks.

This article reports that Iran's air raid on a camp of Iranian guerrillas in Iraq was part of an attempt to kill the chief of the armed opposition Massoud Rajavi. Rajavi was not at the base and Iran lost one of its Phantom fighter-bombers to anti-aircraft fire. Next day Iranian exiles expressed their frustration by throwing stones, bricks and petrol bombs at Iranian missions in Europe, North America and Australia. There is, for the time being, not much else they can do. The Iranian government, which slams the protesters as agents of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has expressed itself dismayed at the lack of dismay by host governments. The governments are doing what is proper but not much more. The Mujahideen, whose European headquarters are in Paris, insist without much conviction that the eruptions were spontaneous.

The article presents a profile of the political activities of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Details surrounding the president's claims to enforce oil rationing and lower interest rates and the many delays in implementing the systems are provided. Issues surrounding technological development and economic market conditions are given, explaining the delays.

Iran's election last week made it clear that the Islamic Republic founded by Ayatollah Khomeini 25 years ago has not evolved as some had hoped into a serious democracy. So the predictable outcome was a victory for the religious conservatives. Iran's leaders insist that they do not want nuclear weapons, and never have. With each new leak, Iran has changed its story. It now admits to having had a secret programme to enrich uranium. Along with Libya and North Korea, it seems to have been one of the main customers of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced Pakistani who ran a global nuclear-smuggling network. The mere prospect of Iran acquiring a bomb has prompted Israel to ponder aloud the case for a pre-emptive strike. If Iran got the bomb, sometime enemies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia might feel compelled to follow suit. In short, though a nuclear Iran may not be worth fighting a war to avert, it is a danger worth averting.