Iran IS a democracy

There's been a lot of talk about how Iran's not really a democracy but really it is a democracy. A troubled democracy since the latest results were almost certainly fabricated, but until that happened, their democracy was quite legitimate.

Bullshit: Iran is a dictatorship since the ultimate authority belongs to the Ayatollah.
The Truth: Iran is a democracy, the Ayatollah acts as a part of their version of the checks and balances.

Some comparisons have been drawn between the Iranian political system of electing officials and that of Kuwait. The difference is that in Iran, the President actually does the governing while the Ayatollah rarely intervenes and does so only if he believes the actions are unIslamic and is at odds with the spirit of their revolution. In Kuwait, although authorities may be elected and do have some function, the Emir does the majority of the governing, a vast difference to that of Iran.
Kuwait's system could be roughly compared to that of Singapore under Lee Kwan Yew where there would be a President and a Prime Minister but Lee Kwan Yew did the actual governing as Senior Minister.


I'm not a fan either but he was legitimate the first time around.

The current results in Iran's polls have actually reflected that Iran was a democracy and now that it is under threat, the people are extremely upset. It's not quite the picture that our leaders try to paint to us and sort of reminds me of what I asked a few years ago: we could democratize a country, but what if they vote in the terrorists? I was called a lot of bad things at the time, but knowing what happened in the Gaza strip, I wasn't wrong at all and although Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not a terrorist per se, Iran does support various terrorist groups operating in Iraq and against Israel.
But that's besides the point, they are/were a democracy.

Picking Candidates
Yes, Iran's Ayatollah has to approve who can run for election but that isn't too alien if you remember that in the United States, the very rich elite decides who can run for election as well. Without their money, you can't even pretend to be running for President. Maybe it's why regardless of who is elected, the outcome seems just about the same.

What lies in the future for Iranian democracy is to be seen. Will this be a once off, will the Ayatollah be forced to call for another election or is it a dangerous precedence for the future?