The job of Iran’s president is a study in humiliation

“The affairs of the country must be administered on the basis of public opinion expressed by the means of elections,” says the constitution, and it names the president as Iran’s second highest official. But his prerogatives are hobbled by myriad unelected forces wielding real power. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime’s crack force, the state broadcaster and a triad of assemblies and councils vet all posts, including the president’s. At the pinnacle the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, answers only to God.