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Iran's Clerics, Elected Politicians Maneuver Ahead of Parliamentary Polls

Jamie Dettmer

   The shooting down last week of a Ukrainian passenger over Tehran is at
   the center of rising tensions between Iran's clerics and the country's
   elected politicians.

   Amid public fury with the belated admission by authorities that a
   missile battery operator "mistakenly" shot down the aircraft, Iran's
   President Hassan Rouhani has called for a "special court" to be set up
   for any trial of those held responsible.

   This would in effect take the trial out of the hands of the judiciary,
   which is controlled by the clerical regime's enforcers, the Islamic
   Revolutionary Guards Corp, say analysts.

   Rouhani has said the special court should be staffed not only by senior
   judges, but also by other legal experts. Iran's judiciary has said
   several people have been arrested in connection with the downing of the
   jet, but their names have not yet been disclosed.

   "It is not that the one individual who pressed the button is to be
   blamed only. There are others involved and I want this to be explained
   to the nation with honesty," Rouhani said midweek. He added: "For our
   people it is very important in this incident that anyone who was at
   fault or negligent at any level" face justice, he said in a televised
   speech.

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