Iran’s Political Elite: Main Problems and Internal Conflicts

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the structure of the Iranian political elite and of the contours of a new intra-elite balance that may arise after the departure of Ali Khamenei from the post of supreme leader. The author tries to identify those problems and challenges that threatens the structure of the socio-political system of the Islamic Republic in the current turbulent period, when, on the one hand, the global economic crisis is growing, and on the other hand, the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations is changing. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the role of Iran in our time has increased many times due to the intensification of the confrontation between the great powers. Moreover, this confrontation is also superimposed on the complex socio-political situation in Iran, which, theoretically, can lead to a significant transformation of the Iranian political elite. And in this regard, it is obvious that the country's foreign policy will be adjusted both under the influence of external factors and depending on the results of the struggle within the Iranian establishment and, accordingly, the formation of a new intra-elite architecture. Thus, the trends in the development of Russian-Iranian cooperation will be decisively influenced by the results of the ongoing rebalancing of the political elite of the Islamic Republic of Iran.