The President and the Council of Ministers
The Presidency and the Cabinet is the prime Velvet glove institution because (besides predating the revolution and falling into the lower rank of constitutional authorities) it strives to further the ideals of the revolution with the changing times (partly due to its pre existence to the revolution). Part of being a velvet glove institution is being less able, constitutionally, to over power the Iron fisted institutions. The Presidency enjoys no extra ordinary constitutional powers, unlike the Iron fist institutions. However, another significant aspect of being the Velvet glove is the ability to reduce the harshness of the Iron fist, which I posit the Presidency has. It is a meaningful institution to Iranians, something evident from the turnout of around 70% in the last presidential elections in 2013. Prior to that, allegations of a forged election triggered what many called the ‘Green Movement’ in 2009. Thousands of young students thronged the streets when the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardline nationalist, declared victory over a reformer by the name of Mousavi, that many in Iran viewed as a betrayal of the institution. Such an outpour, the largest in Iran’s history ever since the revolution, suggests the societal influence of the Velvet glove. The Presidency in particular enjoys the social authority to shape public discourse in Iran, to be in direct contact with the public, something the Iron fist struggles to do.
