Iran's ‘democratic theocracy’ works in mysterious ways. Even the candidacy of Ali Eshraghi, a grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is now considered unacceptable for this week’s parliamentary elections. The Guardian Council, responsible for the screening of candidates, is doing so thorough a job of furthering religious conservatives that any whiff of moderation is enough to declare candidates disloyal to the revolution. The situation is so dire that the reformists are planning to field candidates merely for 100-odd seats in the 290-strong Majlis.

This trend started in the 2001 elections and this week’s polls will further underline the marginalisation of reformists in Iran’s political process. Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the supreme religious leader, has made his preference clear by endorsing the idea of allowing only the conservatives to compete in elections. And this directive has been taken very seriously by the Guardian Council.

This despite the fact that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s poor performance has split the conservatives. An economic crisis is haunting Iran despite oil prices at an all-time high. Ahmadinejad’s radical foreign policy is causing consternation even among Iran’s traditional allies, China and Russia. But with the reformists unable to present a coherent challenge and with the religious establishment firmly backing the conservatives, there is little political opposition left to outline an alternative agenda.

The hardliners have effectively used the global environment to whip up nationalistic feeling, calling the recent UN Security Council resolution an attempt to influence election turnout. They are worried that in the absence of any real electoral choice and a crackdown on the media, Iranians might just decide to stay at home, calling into question the credibility of the elections. So the clerical establishment is urging Iranians to show up in large numbers and frustrate the design of Iran’s Western ‘enemies’ — the US and its allies.

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