Having the president clearly identify the Supreme Leader as the policy decider is refreshing and doesn’t let the Leader pass the buck or blame others or triangulate, which he has for decades.  Someone has to be responsible, and this Leader has for too long tried to play the middle man and blame others for policy decisions.  Hey, while they’re at it, maybe an election for Leader would be a good thing!  Social science research indicates poor policies, poor outcomes, poor human rights, and poor people when country leaders are unaccountable and stay in power for long periods of time.  “Iran’s president says he backs US talks but aligns with Khamenei’s ban,” Iran International, 3-2-25.

He is partly a result of the haphazard form of governing in the IRI, power struggles, and part wily character.  “Iran’s vice-president Javad Zarif resigns, yet again,” Iran International, 3-2-25.  “Mohammad Javad Zarif, the architect of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, resigned as Iran’s vice-president, state media reported Sunday, a few days after the country’s Supreme Leader voiced his opposition to holding talks with Washington. [after he had indicated Yes]. … Zarif’s resignation came after the Parliament ousted the Pezeshkian administration’s finance minister in a vote of no confidence, the IRGC-affiliated Fars News reported, citing two unnamed sources. … Many observers believed that Zarif joined the Pezeshkian administration to help negotiate another nuclear deal with world powers similar to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was scrapped by Donald Trump during his first term in office. … Zarif is no stranger to resignations, treating them almost like brief intermissions—having submitted five during his tenure under former President Hassan Rouhani. Last August, he resigned as Pezeshkian’s aide, but his departure was short-lived, as he returned as vice president for strategic affairs within a couple of weeks. In November, Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf joined hardliners in the parliament who had long been calling for Zarif’s dismissal over his son’s US citizenship. Ghalibaf called on Zarif to resign voluntarily as he, too, believed that Zarif’s appointment to the post was illegal. Led by the Paydari (Steadfastness) Party faction, ultra-hardliners in Parliament have refused to amend a 2020 law that prohibits appointing dual nationals or individuals whose spouses or children hold dual nationality to “sensitive positions” in the government. Hardliners argue the restriction applies to Zarif.”