ABSTRACT
While Āyatallāh Khumaynī lived he dominated the political structure of Iran, modifying it as he thought fit. After his death in 1989 a different system of control, less personal and more institutional, was required. Khumaynī’s successor as vālā faqīh, ‛Alī Khāmani’ī, did not possess the same authority and Khāmani’ī’s attempt to obtain recognition as marja ‛al-taqlīd failed completely. Nor did the president, ‛Alī Akbar Hāshimī Rafsanjāni, command the following of more than a faction; in 1993 he was re-elected president for a further four years with only a modest 63 per cent of the vote. There was no longer a prime minister; Rafsanjānī now led the council of ministers. Nor was there any individual who could harness the different factions in the parliament (Majlis) .
