Changes

Khatami was seen by some in the West as a possible Iranian version of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].  [[Great Britain]] reestablished relations with Iran in 1999.  His coalition was dominated by persons who clearly wished to make Iran a normal country.  However, the limitations of the President in the Iranian system allowed Iranian conservatives to marginalize his supporters and close media outlets friendly to his policies.  Although he won reelection in 2001 and cooperated with the United States to some extent against their mutual enemy the [[Taliban]], his supporters were not able to take the next logical step that [[Boris Yeltsin]] and other anti-communist [[Russians]] did under Gorbachev, that is, unite to completely replace the existing political system.  Because they had been able to outmaneuver him politically, Iranian conservatives also did not oblige with a corresponding [[coup d'etat]] against Khatami.  Normal relations with the United States probably will require just this sort of replacement of the existing Iranian constitution, but the popularity of Khatami and congruent popular distaste for his successor indicates that may be possible without war.

Khatami was seen by some in the West as a possible Iranian version of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].  [[Great Britain]] reestablished relations with Iran in 1999.  His coalition was dominated by persons who clearly wished to make Iran a normal country.  However, the limitations of the President in the Iranian system allowed Iranian conservatives to marginalize his supporters and close media outlets friendly to his policies.  Although he won reelection in 2001 and cooperated with the United States to some extent against their mutual enemy the [[Taliban]], his supporters were not able to take the next logical step that [[Boris Yeltsin]] and other anti-communist [[Russians]] did under Gorbachev, that is, unite to completely replace the existing political system.  Because they had been able to outmaneuver him politically, Iranian conservatives also did not oblige with a corresponding [[coup d'etat]] against Khatami.  Normal relations with the United States probably will require just this sort of replacement of the existing Iranian constitution, but the popularity of Khatami and congruent popular distaste for his successor indicates that may be possible without war.

== Current Status ==

=== 2001-present ===

Iran is currently ruled by the Grand Ayatollah [[Ali Khamenei]], the second theocrat of the country, who has been in office since the death of Khomenei in 1989.  He is considered to have a less extreme anti-Western bias than his predecessor. It is governed on a day-to-day basis by [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], who is suspected by several Western nations to be developing [[nuclear weapons]] to use against [[Israel]]. Domestically, however, he is facing questioning and possible [[impeachment]] by the Iranian Parliament, who see him as too extreme.  The relationship between these two could be compared to that between the [[king]] and the [[prime minister]] in a [[constitutional monarchy]], although students of Iranian politics hotly debate where the precise balance of power lies.   

Iran is currently ruled by the Grand Ayatollah [[Ali Khamenei]], the second theocrat of the country, who has been in office since the death of Khomenei in 1989.  He is considered to have a less extreme anti-Western bias than his predecessor. It is governed on a day-to-day basis by [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], who is suspected by several Western nations to be developing [[nuclear weapons]] to use against [[Israel]]. Domestically, however, he is facing questioning and possible [[impeachment]] by the Iranian Parliament, who see him as too extreme.  The relationship between these two could be compared to that between the [[king]] and the [[prime minister]] in a [[constitutional monarchy]], although students of Iranian politics hotly debate where the precise balance of power lies.