Human rights in Iran
Iran's president President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other government officials have compared Iran's human rights record favorably to other countries, particularly countries that have criticized Iran's record. In a 2008 speech, he replied to a question about human rights by stating that Iran has fewer prisoners than America and that "the human rights situation in Iran is relatively a good one, when compared ... with some European countries and the United States."
Ali Khamenei
As Supreme Leader, Khamenei has influence over elections in Iran since the Constitution of Iran allows him to appoint half of the members of the Guardian Council and the Chief Justice of Iran. The Constitution also establishes that the Council approves or disqualifies candidates for office while the Chief Justice presents the other half of the members of the Council to be selected by Parliament. These constitutional provisions give Khamenei direct and indirect influence over the Council; an entity that, in turn, has direct influence over who can run for government. This influence was evident in the 2004 parliamentary elections, in which the Guardian Council disqualified thousands of candidates from running—including 80 incumbents, many of the reformist members of Parliament, and all the candidates of the Islamic Iran Participation Front party. Subsequently, the conservatives won about 70 percent of parliamentary seats. The election became a key turning point in the country's political evolution as it marked the end of the campaign for political and social reform initiated by former President Mohammad Khatami.